Epaper_23-03-13 ISB

Profit

of checking corruption’, FBR continues ‘crackdown’ on whistleblowers

PTI TAkEs ouT ‘PosTPoNEd’ rAlly

TodAy As AdmIN grANTs PErmIssIoN

IMRAN SAyS PoSTPoNED SUNDAy RALLy To ‘PREVENTING BLooDSHED’

LAHORE s ta f f r e p o r t

THE Lahore district administrat on granted permission to Pak stan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for ts pub ic rally in the provincial cap ta , scheduled to take place on Monday (today) in connection with ts campaign for the upcoming genera elect ons n Pun ab

According to sources the Lahore administration allowed the party to hold public rally on the instructions of caretaker Punjab Chief Min ster (CM) Mohs n Naqvi

In th s regard the district administrat on officers met with the PTI leaders and apprised them of the decision Earlier the PTI announced the party w l hold its ra ly on Monday (today) after the administration did not allow its scheduled pub ic ral y for a second time on Sunday

According to the schedule released by the party ’s Lahore chapter the ra ly will be taken out from Zaman Park at 2pm on Monday and it wi l culminate at Data Darbar after passing through A lama Iqba Road and Railway Station

The PTI Lahore pres dent claimed that it will be the biggest ral y in the countr y s histor y adequaTe securITy: Earlier n the day, Pak stan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) demanded adequate security arrangements for public ra ly in Lahore which was postponed till Monday after the Punjab government imposed Section 144 for a day

The PTI has penned down a et-

oPPoSITIoN PARTy MoVES CoURT, ECP AGAINST IMPoSITIoN oF SECTIoN 144

Pakistan Super League (PSL) match in the city for invoking the law and forb dding pub ic gatherings

Po ice also sealed off a l roads lead ng to Khan’s residence in Lahore to prevent PTI workers from attempting to reach the venue

Subsequently PTI challenged the imposition of the ban by approaching the Elect on Commission of Pakistan (ECP) offices and the courts seeking to dec are Section 144 nul and void Despite the legal challenges Khan eventual y decided to call off the rally urging his party workers to avoid fall ng into the trap

No ban on political activities in Lahore, claims Naqvi

By-polls to 37 NA seats halted: ECP scuttles to comply with high cour ts’ order

The E ection Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Sunday announced suspension of the schedule for byelections to 37 National Assemb y (NA) seats in compliance with the orders of the Islamabad Peshawar Sindh and Balochistan high courts

These Nationa Assembly seats had fal en vacant after the resignat ons of PTI awmakers The Election Comm ssion of Pakistan on Jan 27 had announced by-e ections to 33 Nationa Assembly seats on March 16 while on Februar y 3, the commiss on announced by-e ections to another 31 NA seats after the NA speaker accepted more resignations of the PTI MNAs But ear ier th s month the high courts of Peshawar Sindh and Baloch stan had suspended by-e ections in their respective provinces wh le the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had suspended the de-notif cation of three PTI MNAs from the capita territor y

ter to Secretar y Home Department Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) Poice Lahore and Superintendent of Police (SP) Security demanding adequate security arrangements for pub ic ral y in Lahore – on Monday n connection with upcom ng general elections in Punjab

The letter noted that the rally –which was scheduled to be he d on Sunday – has been postponed till tomorrow (Monday) It added that the party has apprised the district administration of the rally

The letter further stated that PTI Chairman Imran Khan will lead the rally pointing out that Punjab Chief M nister (CM) Mohsin Naqv said – in a tweet – that there is no ban on pol tical act vit es in Lahore “ No ban can be imposed on rallies as the Elect on Comm ssion of Pak stan (ECP) has announced the election schedu e , it said,

adding that the route w ll rema n the same Imran PosTPones PTI rally aFTer

Illegal ImPosITIon oF secTIon

144: Earlier Imran Khan the cha rman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) cancelled his party s scheduled elect on rally in Lahore on Sunday fo lowing the e eventh-hour imposition of Section 144 suspending public gather ngs n the provincial metropolis by the caretaker government of Mohsin Naqvi

The ban on public gatherings in the provincia capital was put in place last night for unspecified security threats hours after Khan announced a fresh rally as an act of def ance against the interim setup s crackdown on the party s March 8 ra ly wh ch k lled at least one supporter of the former pr me min ster

The district adm nistrat on cited concerns in the aftermath of an HBL

In a series of tweets he cla med that Section 144 had been unlawfu ly imposed exclusively on h s election campaign while other public activities n Lahore including a po it cal gathering by rival Mar yam Nawaz continued as usual Clearly, like March 8, Punjab [chief minister Naqvi] and po ce want to provoke clashes to fi e more sham FIRs against the PTI leadership and workers and use it as a pretext for postponing elections he said I AM TELLING ALL PTI WoRKERS NoT To FALL INTo THIS TRAP he added in an a l-caps tweet PeaceFul sTruggle: Separately during a press conference in Lahore, another Pak stan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Hammad Azhar announced the party would be postponing their rally declaring that they didn t want “ more bodies to fall ”

In four separate notificat ons ssued on Sunday the electoral watchdog said that unti further orders from the respective courts the by-elect ons schedule for one NA seat in Balochistan, three in Islamabad, nine in Sindh and 24 in KP is being suspended

This inc udes the fo lowing const tuencies: NA-02 SwatI; NA-03 Swat-II; NA-04 Swat-III; NA-05 Upper; Dir-I; NA-06 Lower Dir-I; NA-07 Lower D r-II; NA-08 Malakand

Protected Area NA-09 Buner; NA-16 Abbottabad-II; NA-17 Haripur-I; NA-18 Swabi-I; NA-19 Swabi-II; NA-20 Mardan-I; NA-25 Nowshera-I; NA-26 Nowshera-II; NA28 Peshawar-II; NA-30 Peshawar-IV; NA-32 Kohat; NA-34 Karak; NA-38 D I Khan- ; NA-40 Bajaur-I; NA-42 Mohmand; NA-43 Khyber-I; NA-44 Khyber-II; NA-52

Is amabad-I; NA-53 Islamabad-II; NA-54 Islamabad-III; NA-241 Korangi Karachi-III; NA-242 Karachi East-I; NA243 Karachi East-II; NA-244 Karachi East-III; NA-247

Karachi South-II; NA-250 Karachi West-III; NA-252

Karachi West-V; NA-254 Karachi Central-II; NA-256

Karachi Central-IV and NA-265 Quetta-II

PTI resIgnaTIons and hIgh courTs orders: The National Assemb y Speaker Ra a Per vez Ashraf after sta ling the process for eight months sw ftly moved to accept the resignat ons of PTI awmakers pending s nce April 2022 in an apparent bid to scuttle the opposit on s purported plan to bring a conf dence mot on against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif

defer red oil payment facility till Feb 2024

ISLAMABAD

s h a h z a d pa r ac h a Saudi King Salman has approved the extens on of a deferred oil payment fac ity worth $1 2 billion to Pakistan till Februar y 2024

According to sources, the Saudi government has extended the facil ty through the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) It is expected that Pakistan will avail the extended facility from March 23 to Feb 24 they c a med

It may be noted that the facil ty was go ng to expire th s month due to wh ch the government of Pakistan asked for a

year ’s extension

It is worth mentioning here that the SFD and Economic Affa rs executed an export finance agreement for imports of crude oil and refined petroleum products from Saudi Arabia n Feb 2019 on deferred payment basis

Sources said that Pakistan had imported oi worth $769 mil ion in the f rst year and $1 11 billion dur ng the second year under the agreement They sa d that Pakistan imports oil on a deferred payment basis worth $50 million ever y month Under this facility the Saudi government has tasked Saudi Arabian o l Company (Saudi Aramco) and Saudi Aramco

Products Trading Company to export crude oi and PoL products wherein PARCo and NRL are designated importers from Pak stan due to long term crude oil agreements w th Aramco

Sources said that the Pakistani government is liable to bear the exchange rate differential due to var at on in exchange rates over the per od of deferred payments

It is worth mentioning here that the government is negotiating w th the Russ an government for mport ng oil Reported y the first cargo of oil from the world s largest countr y wi l and in Pakistan in the current month

another aircraft carr ying quake relief goods depar ts for turkey

KARACHI A N A d o l u Ag e N C y

A cargo plane carrying 90 tons of relief goods including 1 200 winterised tents departed for quakehit turkey on Sunday it was the second aid flight sent to turkey for earthquake victims over the past 48 hours, national disaster Management Authority (ndMA) said in a statement On Saturday, another cargo plane carrying 90 tons of relief goods arrived in the southern Adana province, the statement added Khawaja Hassan, the prime minister ’s special assistant is accompanying the relief aid “Both flights are part of a special air bridge operation which will fly more than 34 chartered cargo aircraft for dispatching tents to turkey the statement added A second ship of the Pakistan navy departed on Saturday with 500 tons of relief supplies for people affected by the twin powerful earthquakes in turkey and Syria on February 6 the ship PnS Moawin which departed from Karachi, is carrying 2,600 winterised tents and 38,000 blankets for turkey and 22,000 blankets, ration packets, and generators for Syria Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week announced that Pakistan would send 50,000 winterized tents for earthquake victims in turkey by March 23

10 dead as tractor trolley plunges into canal in dg Khan

MULTAN t h e A s s o C i At e d p R e s s

A tractor-pulled trolley transporting villagers to a shrine fell into an irrigation canal in the dera Ghazi Khan district of Punjab killing at least 10 people a rescue official said Ahmed Kamal, the head of the rescue service in the district, said 27 of the 46 people onboard the trolley were rescued after the Friday accident by the time the operation was suspended due to darkness Five bodies were retrieved and some of the rescued were injured, he said Kamal said another five bodies were retrieved when searchers began again Saturday He said the dead included three children and seven women nine people were still unaccounted for Saturday Such incidents often take place in Pakistan where transportation infrastructure is often substandard especially in rural villages and people largely disregard safety standards

motor way police seize huge cache of weapons near burhan

ISLAMABAD

s tA f f R e p o R t the Motorway Police in a successful operation on Sunday foiled an attempt to smuggle a large cache of weapons near Motorway M1 Burhan the recovered arms included 81 pistols of 30 bore 72 pistols of 9mm an M-14 rifle 2 700 live rounds of SMG 9,700 live rounds of 30 bore, and 165 magazines the accused were believed to be bringing the weapons from Peshawar According to the Motorway Police, a suspicious vehicle was signalled to stop near Burhan However, the accused drove away from the spot, prompting a high-speed chase by the police the accused drove recklessly, but they were eventually caught On searching the vehicle a large number of weapons were found the accused managed to escape from the spot and the search for them is ongoing Further legal action is being taken against the accused the recovery of such a large amount of weapons is a major success for the Motorway Police and it will help to maintain peace and security in the area

LAHORE

s tA f f R e p o R t

miniStER for information and Broadcasting

Marriyum Aurangzeb on Sunday said after the failure of deploying all political gimmicks , Pakistan tehreeke-insaf (Pti) chairman imran Khan was now playing dirty politics over the dead bodies of poor people to get petty political gains”

Addressing a press conference here, she castigated the Pti chief that “how many more lives he would use for gaining political mileage”

the minister said that imran niazi is hellbent on creating anarchy and lawlessness in the county She recalled that when the no-confidence motion was tabled against imran last year he allegedly concocted the story of cipher and foreign interference without thinking that this would damage Pakistan s foreign relations

Marriyum said now imran niazi is tendering apologies to the United States and giving clarifications over his selfconstructed cipher conspiracy”

She said the Pti chief was not bothered a bit by dragging the country towards anarchy just for his political vested interest

She said the former prime minister was using the said tactics to regain power at any cost For these reasons the minister said imran decided to play with the cipher and coerced the Speaker, deputy speaker of the national Assembly and even the president to violate the Constitution under his nefarious political agenda

She said behind closed doors, imran offered life lifetime extension to the former army chief but when his offer was rejected he started attacking national institutions Marriyum said despite all his efforts he could not spread anarchy and

lawlessness in the country and his alleged desire of the dismemberment of Pakistan after the fall of his government was not fulfilled

From cipher manipulation, he shifted his propaganda to imported government and foreign conspiracy to gain his nefarious designs,” she maintained She said that every single political gimmick of the Pti leadership, including allegations of imported government had failed miserably the minister alleged that imran Khan handed over the country to the iMF and played with the country s economy Marriyam Aurangzeb said during the

Imran greets President X i Jinping, welcomes KSA-Iran’s resumption of diplomatic ties

Former prime minister and Pakistan tehreek-e-insaf (Pti) Chairman imran Khan has congratulated Chinese President Xi Jinping on his re-election for a third term

“Heartiest congratulations to President Xi Jinping on his re-election for a third term as China’s President,” the former prime minister said in a brief statement on twitter in a historic move Xi Jinping was handed an unprecedented third term as President of China the appointment comes after he was handed in October another five years as head of the Chinese Communist party (CCP) and the military

Meanwhile the former prime minister and Pakistan tehreek-e-insaf (Pti) chairman welcomed the normalization of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and iran taking to twitter, the former premier shared a news story regarding the restoration of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and iran, welcoming the development imran Khan noted that his government had taken an initiative to bring iran and Saudi Arabia together for dialogue “as part of our policy of wider engagement for peace and unity of the Ummah He also appreciated

China s role in the diplomatic breakthrough iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to re-establish relations after seven years of hostility after reaching an agreement in Beijing According to a joint statement, tehran and Riyadh agreed to resume diplomatic relations and re-open embassies within two months the agreement was reached between Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme national Security Council of iran, with Saudi national security adviser Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban and Wang Yi, China’s most senior diplomat

Pti tenure, the practice of horse-trading during the Senate elections was rampant and at the time of no trust vote, an audio leak of imran surfaced about the purchasing of loyalties of legislators exposing his so-called democratic credentials

When imran s narrative of foreign conspiracy and the imported regime fell flat he started his long march during which the firing incident occurred and he started the politics of dead bodies She recalled that a television channel reporter Sadaf naeem ran after imran s container in the discharge of professional responsibilities, but she was not allowed to take the interview of imran Rather, unfortunately she met an accident and was crushed under the container but the PML-n leadership never accused imran of her death the minister upheld the minister alleged that during the Pti s rule journalists were arrested and kidnapped and their ribs were broken and at the international level imran earned the name of a predator of journalists S h e q u e s t i o n e d h o w m a n y d e a d b o d i e s i m r a n w o u l d n e e d f o r h i s d i r t y p o l i t i c s ? t h e m i n i s t e r s a i d t h a t o n i m r a n s d i r e c t i o n s , p r o v i n c i a l ministers of KP and Punjab were asked t o w r i t e l e t t e r s t o s a b o t a g e t h e d e a l w i t h t h e i M F

Former punjab governor sar war joins pml-Q

LAHORE s tA f f R e p o R t

Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar a former Punjab governor who was removed from his position by his former Pakistan tehreek-e-insaf (Pti) party almost a year ago has announced his joining of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) Sarwar who made the announcement after meeting with the party s supremo Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, had been offered to join the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and PML-Q earlier this year, as the battle for the Punjab throne intensified during the assembly dissolution episode in January Reportedly, Hussain had met the former Pti leader twice back then and offered him to join his party Local media reported the former governor had decided to join the PML-Q two days ago and the official announcement was made today during a press conference Sunday the politician said his first priority would be to strengthen the party and expressed his dissatisfaction with the current state of political affairs in the country saying that politicians are not willing to sit together in the most difficult of situations When speaking about his accomplishments during his tenure in the governor s house, Sarwar said he appointed the university s vice-chancellor on merit

Judge’s sons ser ve defamation notice to law yer over misconduc t claim

ISLAMABAD s tA f f R e p o R t

the sons of Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar naqvi have issued a legal notice to Barrister Mian dawood, demanding a public apology within 15 days for defaming the Supreme Court, according to the news dawood had previously filed a misconduct complaint against Justice naqvi in the Supreme Judicial Council alleging that the judge and his family members were involved in malpractices and the misuse of power during his tenure in a criminally-designed pattern the complaint was filed seeking Justice naqvi s removal after his name emerged in connection with recent audio leaks, purportedly involving him, former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi, and others the lawyer further accused the judge of using his position to help his sons and daughter study abroad and gain financial benefits from Zahid Rafique in response Sayed tassaduq Mustafa

naqvi and Sayed tassaduq Murtaza

naqvi Justice naqvi s sons have asked

dawood to issue an apology

You are also to issue a corrigendum in the same mode and manner, failing which, you prepare yourself to face legal action (civil and criminal) for injuring the reputations of the undersigned, as an integral part of a reputed establishment ” reads the legal notice

“Such proceedings will include but are not limited to a suit for damages (inclusive of all costs etc) and these remedies are without prejudice to any

other remedy that the undersigned is entitled to as per law, the legal notice added the duo termed the allegations of the complainant criminally motivated and an attempt to blackmail and defame them

“All you have done is reveal yourself as a jealous hateful man in crisis running malicious campaigns against people you cannot even dream to stand by they said adding the actions will be dealt with by the law

in response to your allegations it is informed that the undersigned(s) possess a bachelor s degree in law from the University of London a master s degree in law from indiana University Bloomington, and a speciality in business and commercial law, the brothers stated they further stated that they have been practising before the Lahore High Court (LHC) since August of the year 2017 and are fully financially independent the two said the complainant even did not qualify to be called a legal practitioner since he had not even attended a law school and added that it was in itself a blatant violation of the law and rules applicable to advocates that on the one hand he poses himself as a lawyer and also operates media platforms for his publicity, which is also clothed with defeat and shame

Before you go on to point fingers at the undersigned(s), provide us with a record of your career as a legal practitioner and justify exactly how you became a lawyer ” they asked the complainant

Ididn’t know imran Khan was so sick in his bail application to the islamabad High Court

deny the claim imran can make the claim better than most other people as he suffered a stress fracture of the back back in 1983 from pounding in

the ball for the long spells in the 1982-3 series against india that got him 40 wickets Or does imran have any special reason for not wanting to admit to backache? it will be interesting to see how imran balances appearances at campaign rallies with his claim that his wounds prevent him from appearing in court Of course there s been one angry video claiming the piles and prolapse claims are propaganda After all they don t fit in with imran s image of an allconquering hero it wasn t a campaign rally but a rally t o e x p r e s s s o l i d a r i t y w i t h t h e j u d i c i a r y, which ended badly for one Pti supporter, who ended up dead What were the torture m a r k s o n h i m , w h o i n f l i c t e d t h e m , i s being disputed, but no one has denied that he was killed the Pti claims that he was killed in police custody; the police merely shuffles its feet and gets embarrassed that he was killed in police custody is possible But it hasn t happened for some

time the Pti supporters need to man up, for they could end up in police custody these days Who said being part of a human shield was going to be easy?

Somebody should ask Ch Parvez Elahi if it’s easy After all he is now the Pti’s President the great actor Qawi Khan passed away in Canada first but the delay was not because of him it should be remembered that Qawi who played so many memorable roles in all formats went a little offbeat when he played a policeman in Andhera Ujala it is with such cops that Ch Pervez may have to deal with, now that Muhammad Khan Bhatti, his fixer, is singing like a canary, and who is said to have recorded a confessional statement under Section 164 CrPC, which implies that the statement is before a magistrate, who has assured himself that there is no police pressure i seem to hear a shadowy police spokesman saying that only the Army has claimed noninterference the police are there

to provide service as before i was interested to see that Pakistan has got billions of dollars stuck in foreign aid We shouldn’t expect much money from the World Bank not with its Chief Economist an indian indirect Singh Gill He went to St Stephen’s College new delhi before doing his doctorate fro the University of Chicago And then there s Gia Gopinath the Calcutaborn Harvard Phd who s dMd of the iMF after having been its Chief Economist no wonder they haven t been releasing their tranche! i know these indians are probably coconuts (White on the inside), but does anyone remember the trouble we had with FAtF? the sheer persistence with which india tried to get Pakistan kept on the gey list, or better yet, blacklisted, says that if need be RAW will kidnap Gill’s and Gopinath’s relatives and threaten to torture them unless Pakistan is not given any money

I m r a n p l ay I n g ‘ d I r t y p o l I t I c s o v e r d e a d b o d I e s ’ : m a r r I y u m

b u s I n e s s m e n c o n d e m n p u n J a b g o v t ’ s ‘ m e d d l I n g ’ I n t r a d e p o l I t I c s

ISLAMABAD s tA f f R e p o R t

tHE business community on Sunday expressed its serious concern over the involvement of Punjab caretaker government in trade politics and driving campaign for a particular group violating the election code of conduct as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rules bar a caretaker set-up from performing such acts the Election Act 2017 unequivocally restricts a caretaker set-up to only run everyday affairs of the incumbent government as well as assist the ECP they said that the Punjab Caretaker Minister for industries, Commerce,

investment and Skill development S M

tanveer has started the election drive in favour of the United Business Group (UBG) in various official functions and meetings in a hurriedly called meeting held here today, the representatives of various trade organizations, chambers of commerce and industrial associations of all major sectors of the country, have condemned such act of the Punjab Caretaker Minister as he is visiting different chambers in interior Sindh along with the office-bearers of the UBG to persuade the members of his rival group of the Businessmen Panel (BMP) for voting in favour his group which has been the loser for the last three consecutive years in FPCCi elections

ptI lawmaker from Karachi ‘picked up’

KARACHI s tA f f R e p o R t

they said that Caretaker Minister of industries has revived the Punjab Chamber of Commerce Coordination Committee which includes the representatives of chambers, industrialists and govt officers with a view to take steps to solve the problems faced by the industry of Punjab, but actually this committee is being used to force the voters of BMP to join the UBG, which is totally unfair they appealed the caretaker government to work only for ensuring the provision of all possible facilities to the investors instead of indulging its ministries in political affairs of the business community they also criticized him to attend the UBG 41st meeting at Gohar Group of Companies head office in Karachi as a

‘ S p o n s o r s h i p H a j j S c h e m e ’ wo u l d h e l p i n g e n e r a t i n g $ 1 9 4 m , h o p e s m i n i s t e r

ISLAMABAD

s tA f f R e p o R t

Minister for Religious Affairs and interfaith Harmony Mufti Abdul Shakoor has expressed the hope that the Sponsorship Hajj Scheme would help generate $194 million out of the total $284 million required for the smooth sailing of Hajj operation 2023

He said the Ministry of Finance had pledged to provide the remaining approximately $90 million dollars Shedding light on the Sponsorship Hajj Scheme the minister said it was introduced for overseas Pakistanis to meet the shortage of foreign exchange and fulfil the total quota of Hajj 179,210 pilgrims assigned by the Saudi government to Pakistan this year

yusuf raza gilani hails ser vices of law yers for democracy

MULTAN s tA f f R e p o R t

Former prime minister and Pakistan Peoples Party

(PPP) central leader Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani hailed the services of lawyers for the promotion of democracy here on Sunday talking to a delegation of lawyers led by High Court Bar Association

President Rana Asif Saeed and People Lawyers

Forum Shiekh Ghias Ul Haq, Syed Yusuf Raza

Gilani said if the lawyers had not extended sacrifices, then there would have been another shape of democracy He said that the Pakistan Peoples Party gave the Constitution to the country Similarly he restored the Constitution to its original shape Gilani maintained that he was jailed for 15 years but he did not become part of any deal He stated that opponents could not bear jail hardships for even one week the High Court Bar Association s delegation also extolled the services of Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani for democracy Gilani also appreciated matchless uplift work done during Gilani s tenure

Karachi games will become sindh games in future: tessori

KARACHI s tA f f R e p o R t

Sindh Governor Kamran Khan tessori said Sunday that Karachi Games will become Sindh Games in future and similar sports activities will be held in the whole of Sindh He said this while addressing the prize distribution ceremony of the donkey derby race held on the last day of the Karachi Games 2023 Karachi Games were not held after 2008 during PSL in Karachi a coward incident took place in the city after which it was decided that large-scale sports competitions should be organized in Karachi i would like to thank Administrator Karachi dr Syed Saifur Rehman for working hard day and night to organize the Karachi Games in a peaceful atmosphere i congratulate the winners of the donkey derby Race in Karachi Games, all the participants of the race have worked hard and this hard work and dedication should be appreciated

revolutionar y poet Jalib remembered on 30th death anniversar y

ISLAMABAD s tA f f R e p o R t

the 30th death anniversary of revolutionary poet Habib Jalib was observed on Sunday to pay glowing tributes to him for his notable services in the field of literature Habib Jalib was born on 24 March 1928 in Hoshiarpur of indian Punjab

He was titled as the poet of the people by his followers Habib Jalib migrated to Pakistan after the partition and worked with a newspaper as a proofreader His simple and attractive style touched the hearts of people and remained loyal to his progressive school of thought despite being jailed for several times but also remained resilient when it comes to his poetry He is among the most influential urdu poets in Pakistan, who supported democratic ideals and expressively opposed martial laws and authoritarian rule Some of his famous literary works of the great political and social activist of his time include “Zulmat Ko Zia”, “Watan ko Kuch nahi Khatra”, “Main ne Uss Se Yeh Kaha” and “Aisay dastoor Ko”

He said the federal cabinet had approved the Hajj Policy 2023 therefore the ministry had decided to collect the Hajj applications from March 16 to 31 through 14 designated banks and hold Hajj balloting on April 5, according to the schedule H e m a d e i t c l e a r t h a t t h e m i n i s t r y w a s c h a rg i n g t h e H a j j e x p e n s e s f r o m t h e g o v e r n m e n t p i l g r i m s a s i t w o u l d b e s p e n t o n t h e i r f a c i l i t i e s t h r o u g h o u t t h e h o l y j o u r n e y

According to the financial breakup the estimated cost of Hajj from the northern Region (islamabad

Lahore Peshawar Multan Faisalabad Rahim Yar Khan Sialkot) was Rs 1 175 000 while for the Sponsorship Hajj Scheme (northern Region) was approximately $4 325 he said adding that the estimated cost of Hajj from Southern Region (Karachi

caretaker minister which was also attended by the UBG secretary general and other leadership the Caretaker industries minister has himself admitted on media that he had visited Sahiwal and Okara Chambers along with the chairman of the UBG to reinforce his group He also visited different Sidh chambers, asking his office-bearers to visit all chambers in interior Sindh for the election campaign for the FPCCi elections the minister said on media “We are working together and jointly covering the campaign which should also be done here in Sindh Please ensure and promise with me that from today UBG is being active now and we had to cover every chamber in Sindh

Quetta, Sukkur) was Rs1,165,000 while for the Sponsorship Hajj Scheme (Southern Region) was approximately $4,285 the minister assured that in case of savings from the above-mentioned Hajj package, it would be refunded to the Hajj pilgrims through the bank accounts provided by them adding that the applicants of the Sponsorship Hajj Scheme having no bank accounts would be provided money in cash He said last year on his personal request the mandatory Hajj expenses were reduced by the Saudi Minister for Hajj and Umrah as compared to the previous year But this time the global inflation had increased the cost of facilities in Pakistan as well as in Saudi Arabia and apart from this, the fall in the value of Pakistani rupee had a significant impact on the Hajj package, he maintained Abdul Shakoor said last year, our pilgrims were not able to get train facility, but this year, they could avail of the train facility in Mina Muzdalifah and Arafat However the pilgrims would have to bear the cost of this facility he added

PTI takes out ‘postponed ’ rally today as admin grants permission

CONTINUED fROM pAgE 01

Azhar alleged the murder of party supporter Ali Bilal, also known as Zill-i-Shah, had been covered up, but emphasised that the party sought a peaceful struggle

While addressing the media Azhar indicated the Pti would announce the new rally date soon and that it could potentially take place tomorrow He urged party workers to remain prepared for any future developments

Azhar pointed out the Pti had halted its rallies in March and november last year citing the fear of violence However he made it clear that the party would not give up its fight and would not be intimidated the rally scheduled for today is being postponed Workers should prepare themselves it is possible that the rally will take place tomorrow or after tomorrow, but it could be held tomorrow as well We will provide an update shortly,” he added

ILLEGAL MOVE: the party has challenged the imposition of Section 144 with its leader Babar Awan filing a plea in the election tribunal on the instructions of Khan the petition argues the imposition of Section 144 violates paragraph 15 of the Supreme Court s order and that the routes of the rally and the cricket match are different the party asserts that the election campaign is their constitutional right and that the provincial government is illegally stopping their campaign

Speaking to the media later, Awan reiterated that the timings and routes of the match and rally are distinct

Earlier in the day, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, deputy chairman of the party, flanked by Chaudhry, approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the move, which the party said it views as unjustified Qureshi claimed the caretaker government wanted to create a clash so that the cricket game could be canceled and reasons for arrests of Pti workers be created We have decided to remain peaceful and not lose our patience in front of the chaos that the government had created he added the Pti petition filed in the LHC said the government s orders regarding the imposition of Section 144 be set aside in the interest of justice, fair play, and equity it also said that the government should provide sufficient security to the Pti rally in a separate move, Pti leader Yasmin Rashid has submitted a request against the provincial government’s decision to ban rallies in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) office in Lahore

ECP AskEd tO dECLArE sECtIOn 144

IMPOsItIOn ILLEGAL: President Pakistan

tehreek-e-insaf (Pti) Central Punjab dr Yasmin Rashid on Sunday wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on the issue of stopping the Pti rally it has been stated in the letter that the Election Commission of Pakistan has issued the election schedule in Punjab, following which Pti announced a rally and the caretaker government imposed Section 144 [to stop the rally] it was further mentioned that the rally was also brutally manhandled by the police earlier, due to which one of their activist was martyred the Pti’s rally is going to be held at 2pm while HBL PSL match is at 7pm in the letter the electoral watchdog has been asked to take notice of the caretaker government’s role and declare the implementation of Section 144 illegal it should be noted that after the announcement by Pti Chairman imran Khan to hold a rally today the caretaker Punjab government has summoned the Rangers by imposing Section 144 in Lahore CEC COVEns MEEtInG tO rEVIEw PtI

PLEAs: Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja Sunday called an important meeting of the commission tomorrow (Monday) to discuss the petitions submitted to the ECP by the Pakistan tehreek-i-insaf leaders against the imposition of Section 144 which prohibits any rallies and public gatherings in Lahore the ECP on its official twitter handle announced: “the chief election commissioner has called an important meeting of the commission tomorrow at 10:30 am on the requests of dr Babar Awan and dr Yasmeen Rashid of Pti regarding the implementation of Section 144 by the Punjab government and the ban on election rallies Earlier in the day the Pti challenged the imposition of Section 144 in Lahore in the Election Commission of Pakistan On the direction of Pti Chairman and former prime minister imran Khan, Babar Awan filed the petition in ECP on Sunday, praying the commission to order the withdrawal of the Section 144 Awan argued in the application that running election campaign is the constitutional right of the Pti and the ban on rallies is illegal it was further stated in the application that the Punjab government has violated the Supreme Court’s decision by imposing Section 144 Rallies are being blocked on the pretext of PSL matches although routes of the rally and the PSL match are miles apart it said and added the Pti rally will end at 5:30 pm while the PSL match will start at 7:00 pm the plea further said that imposition of Section 144 was not witnessed in any city during the PSL match before this one

A P a k i s t a n te h r e e k - i - i n s a f ( P t i ) l a w m a k e r w a s r e p o r t e d l y p i c k e d u p f r o m h i s K a r a c h i r e s i d e n c e b y u n i d e n t i f i e d p l a i n c l o t h e s m e n a c c o r d i n g t o t h e o p p o s i t i o n p a r t y s p r o v i n c i a l s p o k e s p e r s o n A r s a l a n ta j H u s s a i n , t h e p a r t y s l a w m a k e r f r o m P S - 1 0 2 ( K a r a c h i E a s t - i V ) , a n d t h e g e n e r a l s e c r e t a r y i n t h e c i t y, w a s s e i z e d a d a y a f t e r h e c r i t i c i s e d P a k i s t a n P e o p l e s P a r t y ( P P P ) c o - c h a i r p e r s o n A s i f A l i Z a r d a r i a n d S i n d h i n f o r m a t i o n M i n i s t e r S h a r j e e l M e m o n d u r i n g a p r e s s c o n f e r e n c e A d d i t i o n a l l y H u s s a i n a l l e g e d t h a t t h e P P P ’s a l l y t h e J a m a a t - ii s l a m i w a s t h e “ P P P ’s B t e a m ” t h e P t i s p o k e s p e r s o n c l a i m e d t h e p o l i c e r a i d e d H u s s a i n s h o u s e a n d r a n s a c k e d i t w h i l e t h e l a w m a k e r s m o t h e r a c c u s e d t h e p o l i c e o f t a k i n g h e r s o n w i t h o u t a w a r r a n t a n d a l l e g e d t h a t 2 0 t o 2 5 p e o p l e h a d c o m e t o a r r e s t h i m t h e p a r t y o n tw i t t e r h a s s h a r e d a v i d e o o f t h e p a r l i a m e n t a r i a n b e i n g a b d u c t e d P P P h a s r e p e a t e d l y s h o w e d t h e i r t r u e c o l o u r s , w i l l t h e m e d i a n o w s p e a k u p ! ? i t t w e e t e d R e s p o n d i n g t o t h e d e v e l o p m e n t , F a w a d C h a u d h r y, s e n i o r v i c e p r e s i d e n t o f t h e p a r t y, d e m a n d e d H u s s a i n ’s “ i m m e d i a t e r e l e a s e ” t h e p o l i c e , o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , s a i d t h e y h a v e r e c e i v e d a c o m p l a i n t a b o u t H u s s a i n ’s d i s a p p e a r a n c e a n d a r e i n v e s t i g a t i n g M e a n w h i l e t h e P t i h a s c r i t i c i s e d t h e a r r e s t o f i t s p a r t y m e m b e r a n d r a i d s w e r e a l s o c o n d u c t e d a t t h e r e s i d e n c e s o f i t s p r o v i n c i a l l a w m a k e r s K h u r r a m S h e r z a m a n a n d R a j a A z h a r t h e t w o w e r e n o t a p p r e h e n d e d a s t h e y w e r e n o t a t h o m e b u t A z h a r s family was reportedly harassed

saudi aramco earns $161b profit for 2022

CONTINUED fROM BACK pAgE

the profits fuelled overall economic growth in Saudi Arabia the world s biggest crude exporter which officials put at 8 7% in 2022 the highest rate in the G20 Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman the kingdom s de facto ruler Saudi Arabia has sought both to open up and diversify its oilreliant economy spending heavily on much-hyped projects like a futuristic mega-city known as nEOM Officials have touted growth in non-oil activities, which increased 6 2% in the fourth quarter of 2022 over the same period in 2021, according to data published on thursday by the national statistics authority Yet government spending “is a major driver for this growth” and that “will always be to some extent linked to oil revenue”, underscoring Aramco’s central role in the economy said Justin Alexander director of the consultancy Khalij Economics Energy prices are expected to stay elevated in 2023 in part because of production cuts approved last October by the OPEC+ that Riyadh co-leads with Moscow a move harshly criticised by Washington Aramco s facilities have in the past suffered drone and missile attacks claimed by Yemen s iran-backed Huthi rebels, most recently about a year ago But a surprise deal announced on Friday between Riyadh and tehran to restore diplomatic ties severed in 2016 could mitigate the risk in the months to come Aramco floated 1 7% of its shares on the Saudi bourse in december 2019, generating $29 4 billion in the world’s biggest initial public offering

silicon valley bank failure rattles us star tup ecosystem

CONTINUED fROM BACK pAgE

Bennett added that an intervention should not be viewed as bailing out the 1 or Big tech , pointing to the thousands of the most hardworking, talented individuals” at impacted companies who are currently “struggling ” According to the news website Semafor, hedge funds are offering to front cash to SVB’s corporate clients but at a 20 to 40 percent discount Beyond that Adam Arrigo boss of virtual gig platform Wave warned his fellow tech entrepreneurs: Whether or not you had money in SVB you are not unaffected this is going to materially impact everyone Like others Bennett says he is also concerned about the fate of other banks favored by the tech industry including California s First Republic, whose stock price fell 30 percent in two days Some see in the back-to-back failure of two banks, SVB and Silvergate Bank, an example of the financial system’s precariousness

“What happened to everyone talking about how banks (SVB, Silvergate) are safe and better than Crypto dEFi?” tweeted US investor Arjun Sethi deFi or decentralized finance allows users to theoretically access their funds at any time and without intermediary but comes without deposit protections or regulations

Plantation of 9,000 saplings afoot to make barren land cultivable in Chitral

CHITRAL s tA f f R e p o R t

t h e S o i l a n d Wa t e r C o n s e r v a t i o n d e p a r t m e n t

Khyber Pahtunkhwa Chitral is c o n v e r t i n g 1 0 2 a c r e s b a r r e n land at dulomuch in cultivable o n e U n d e r t h i s p r o j e c t o n e w a t e r p l a n t f o u r c h e c k d a m s l a n d l e v e l i n g t e r r a c i n g a n d p l a n t a t i o n i e P l a n t i n g i n c l u d e s 4 0 0 0 o l i v e t r e e s 3 0 0 0 w i l d p l a n t s a n d 2 0 0 0 f r u i t t r e e s i n c l u d e d d i r e c t o r General KP Muhammad Yasin Wa z i r a l s o i n a u g u r a t e d t h e p l a n t a t i o n c a m p a i g n b y planting an olive tree in this regard, a simple ceremony was also held at dolomus

ta l k i n g t o o u r c o r r e s p o n d e n t t h e o w n e r o f t h i s l a n d C o l o n e l R e t i r e d S h a h z a d a M u h a m m a d S h a r i f s a i d t h a t b e f o r e t h i s w e h a v e v i s i t e d o ff i c e s o f Wa t e r M a n a g e m e n t a n d m a n y o t h e r departments times and ago but w e a r e v e r y m u c h d i s a p p o i n t e d S i n c e w e a p p r o a c h e d t h e o ff i c e o f S o i l a n d Wa t e r C o n s e r v a t i o n d e p a r t m e n t a t C h i t r a l b y w r i t i n g a s i m p l e a p p l i c a t i o n t h e y s e n t t h e i r t e c h n i c a l t e a m a n d s t a r t e d w o r k o n i t i m m e d i a t e l y C o l o n e l S h a r i f said that if all the departments i n P a k i s t a n s t a r t w o r k i n g diligently and honestly like the S o i l a n d Wa t e r C o n s e r v a t i o n , t h e n a l l t h e b a r r e n l a n d o f

Pakistan can be cultivated and o t h e r d e v e l o p m e n t w o r k s c a n also be completed on time director General Soil and Water Conservation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Yasin Wazir said that before this it was a slope and barren land and we worked on it and made it under cultivation and we are also planting olives, almonds, pomegranates and other fruit plants on it it will also be benefit the landowners financially and wild plants are also being planted in it to control the burden on forests and people cut and burn the branches of these trees for cooking and heating purposes He said that it will not only benefit the landowners

financially and it will also promote tourism as it will attract wildlife and colourful birds but it will also have a very positive impact on climate change and global warming and it will have good effects M u j i b u r R e h m a n , w h o i s t h e d i s t r i c t o ff i c e r o f t h i s

department, said that this year, 8000 kanals of barren land are being cultivated in Chitral, on w h i c h t h e y w i l l b e p l a n t e d fruitful and wild plants which w i l l b e t r a n s f o r m e d i n t o gardens People can also grow v e g e t a b l e s a n d g e t f i n a n c i a l benefit from it by selling fresh and dry fruits He said that for t h i s p u r p o s e a n y l a n d l o r d c a n come to our office and submit a simple application, after which

8 0 % o f t h e e x p e n s e s a r e g r a n t i n g b y o u r d e p a r t m e n t w h i l e t h e f a r m e r c o n t r i b u t e only 20% of total cost P r i n c e S h u j a R i a z u d d i n s a i d t h a t b e f o r e t h i s l a n d w a s b a r r e n , n o w s o i l a n d w a t e r c o n s e r v a t i o n t e a m v i s i t e d t h i s b a r r e n l a n d a n d m a k i n g t h i s l a n d u n d e r c u l t i v a t i o n , i t w i l l not only benefit us financially, but when this garden succeeds a n d b e c o m e s a f o r e s t i t w i l l a l s o h a v e a v e r y g o o d i m p a c t o n t h e s u r r o u n d i n g environment He said that when t h e t r e e s w i l l s u c c e e d o n t h i s l a n d w h i c h w a s c o m p l e t e l y u s e l e s s h o w c o l o u r f u l b i r d s w i l l c o m e h e r e a n d w i l l a l s o i m p a c t p o s i t i v e l y o n c l i m a t e change he added

Strong Rule of Law in Pakistan: The Key to fixing people's lives

he meeting where the Inter-Services Intelligence, the Intelligence Bureau and the Counter-terrorism Departments of the Punjab and KP unburdened themselves with the Election Commission of Pakistan ended with all of them recommending that the polls to the dissolved provincial assemblies should go forward to October, even though the Punjab is supposed to hold polls on April 30, while the KP Governor has still to appoint a date All agencies agreed that there was too high a terrorist threat for polls to be held Be that as it may, the ECP has to hold elections, but there was no sign of any indication that the ECP asked for suggestions on how elections are to be held under this threat there was also no timeline given the October date seems pulled out of a hat and there was no indication of what would happen by then after which elections would be possible

It was also ironic that the ISI was pointing to the terrorist threat even though under its previous DG it is said that Yehrik taliban Pakistan terrorists were encouraged to move from Afghanistan and settle in KP the ISI is being viewed by political leaders with suspicion as it is considered the organization through which political interference has been carried out in the past Cynics might well say that it wants a postponement so that it can overcome the crimp in its style caused by claims of non-interference and go back to what it might see as the good old days

there are overwhelming political reasons for the present coalition not to opt for elections on time but that is the way the Constitution is built the foundation of everything is elections taking place on time that does not just mean every five years though that renewal of the mandate is essential It also means that if there is a premature dissolution always a possibility in a parliamentary system, there must be elections held swiftly Even caretaker governments are not a substitute for elections; even though unelected themselves, their primary task is the holding of elections there is an increasing suspicion that such apparently positive actions as issuing an election schedule and giving a date, reflect the Election Commission of Pakistan s desire to comply with the letter of the Supreme Court s decision mandating the polls, while not obeying it in its spirit

PA K I S tA N has battled with numerous challenges including political instability economic crises and social inequalities A culture of injustice and impunity has been fostered by the weak rule of law, which has made these issues worse to improve people's lives in Pakistan and build a more just, prosperous, and stable society; a strong rule of law is necessary

Everyone is held accountable for their actions and is subject to the same laws regardless of their social status or political affiliation thanks to the fundamental principle of the rule of law It ensures that everyone has access to the legal system and can pursue redress for their grievances It also provides a framework for fairness justice and equality

However due to political meddling corruption and a subpar legal system Pakistan s rule of law has frequently been undermined As a result there is now a culture of impunity in which those in positions of authority can act without consequence and ordeinary people have few legal options

P u b l i c t r u s t i n t h e g o v e r n m e n t a n d t h e l e g a l system has declined, which is one of the main effects of this absence of the rule of law People are l e s s l i k e l y t o r e s p e c t t h e l a w a n d m o r e l i k e l y t o commit crimes themselves when they believe the system is biased against them this in turn feeds a v i c i o u s c y c l e o f c r i m e c o r r u p t i o n a n d v i o l e n c e that is challenging to end

For a variety of reasons laws in Pakistan are not effectively enforced Corruption which has an impact on how the justice system operates and threatens the rule of law is one of the main causes Many people with money and influence can escape the law, while those without access to these resources suffer disproportionately the lack of resources and weak institutions also make it more difficult to enforce the law In Pakistan, ineffective law enforcement is also a result of political meddling in the judiciary, judicial backlogs, and a lack of public confidence in the police

In a system where laws are not being effectively enforced there is a sense of impunity and a lack of

accountability for those who break the law because of the interaction of all these factors

A solid legal system is necessary in Pakistan to improve people's lives this entails creating a fair and consistent application of the law a transparent and accountable legal system and an independent judiciary

Maintaining the rule of law requires an independent judiciary because it serves as a safeguard against abuses of power by the executive and legislative branches It makes sure that everyone is subject to the same laws and held responsible for their actions, regardless of their status or position Judges must be appointed on the basis of merit and integrity rather than political affiliation in order to accomplish this and they must also be free from political interference

For the rule of law to be upheld, a fair and accountable legal system must be established this entails making sure that laws are written in a way that is clear and understandable and that they are applied fairly and consistently In order for people to seek redress for their grievances in a timely and cost-effective manner it also entails developing an effective and accessible legal system

In addition to these actions, it is crucial to guarantee that the law is applied equally and consistently this means that everyone is held accountable for their actions regardless of their position or status and that justice is not only rendered in appearance but also in reality this is only possible if there are penalties for breaking the law and if the legal system is accommodating to the needs of ordinary people

I m p rov i n g p e o p l e ' s l i v e s i n Pa k i s t a n r e q u i r e s a s t ro n g l e g a l s y s t e m . I t e n s u r e s t h a t e v e r yo n e h a s a c c e s s t o t h e l e g a l s y s t e m a n d c a n p u r s u e r e d r e s s fo r t h e i r g r i e va n c e s . I t a l s o p rov i d e s a f r a m e wo r k fo r f a i r n e s s , j u s t i c e , a n d e q u a l i t y. A d d i t i o n a l l y, i t e n s u r e s t h a t Pa k i s t a n c a n d e v e l o p a m o r e e q u i t a b l e , p ro s p e ro u s , a n d s t a b l e s o c i e t y fo r i t s c i t i z e n s a n d fo s t e r s a n e nv i ro n m e n t t h a t i s c o n d u c i v e t o e c o n o m i c g ro w t h a n d d e v e l o p m e n t . I t i s t i m e fo r Pa k i s t a n t o t a k e t h e r e q u i r e d a c t i o n s t o bu i l d u p a s t ro n g l e g a l s y s t e m a n d m a k e s u r e t h a t e v e r yo n e i s h e l d l i a b l e fo r t h e i r a c t i o n s .

In Pakistan, a strong rule of law is not only necessary for improving people s lives, but it is also a requirement for economic expansion and development

Mastermind of the fake encounter in occupied Kashmir convicted

At long last, the Indian army Captain Bhupinder Singh was sentenced to life imprisonment for having staged a fake encounter in Jammu and Kashmir s Shopian district (on 18 July 2020) to earn cash reward (Indian Rs 20 lac) and out-of-turn promotion Conviction of Indian army personnel in occupied Kashmir is well-nigh impossible as they are immune from civil criminal proceedings owing to immunity under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act Badgered by persistent complaints, India s Supreme Court had to define contours of fair application of the draconian AFSPA to pursue justice, the bereaved families have to run pillar to post Convictions are a rare phenomenon Most Kashmiris try to avoid ventilating their grief for fear of brutal reaction from the Indian military

In July 2020 three labourers were killed at Amshipora in Shopian district Army officers had claimed they (Imtiyaz Ahmed Abrar Ahmed and Mohammed Ibrar) were Pakistani terrorists and with their killing the terror threat was eliminated in the district Initially the Indian Army tried to hush up the case But, the locals insisted that the three young men killed were cousins from Rajouri district working as labourers Captain Bupinder Singh “hired” them from their homes and later shot them in a staged encounter the Army was compelled to hold an inquiry owing to unabated protests by locals and the bereaved families A court of inquiry instituted by the Army found that the troops had exceeded powers vested in them under Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) and acted in contravention to the rules approved by the Supreme Court the Army also claimed recovery of a huge cache of arms from the encounter site the Jammu and Kashmir Police disassociated itself from the incident In their parallel investigation, the Jammu and Kashmir Police confirmed the cold-blooded killing, by hatching a conspiracy, kidnapping and killing three cousins from Rajouri and passing them off as hardcore Pakistani terrorists

the inquiry ordered by the Indian Army into Operation Amshipora brought out that during the operation, powers vested under the AFSPA 1990 were exceeded the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and others consider Captain Bupinder Singh’s conviction an eyewash they allege that senior military officers including Brigadier Ajay with whose connivance the fake encounter was staged have not even been tried the Hurriyat Conference has demanded stern action against the former Indian Army s Rashtriya Rifles sector commander Brigadier Ajay Katoch and all other Indian Army officers and men involved in the killing of innocent Kashmiri youth in staged encounters Be it noted that immediately after the martyrdom of the youth, Brigadier Katoch had addressed a press conference in Srinagar He claimed that the youth were killed in an encounter and arms and ammunition were recovered from their possession It is eerie that, in January 2021, Brigadier Ajay Katoch was awarded with the Yudh Seva Medal “in recognition of his meritorious services against Kashmiri militants” the three victims were later discreetly buried in a graveyard in north Kashmir Several Indian and international human-rights organizations have documented the mysterious disappearance of the Kashmiri people It was found that Kashmiris killed in fake encounters, or in custody, are buried in nameless graves the right organizations include Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, besides the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) the last-mentioned body is sponsored and funded by the Indian government itself under India’s Protection of Human Rights Act 1993

I n d i a cl a i m s t o b e t h e wo r l d ’s l a rg e s t d e m o c r a cy H ow ev e r, i t s s h i ny ’ f a c e h a s b e e n s c a r r e d by a t ro c i t i e s c o m m i t t e d by i t s A r my a n d s e c u r i t y fo rc e s i n o c c u p i e d K a s h m i r ( a n d I n d i a ’s N o r t h E a s t ) T h e “ S O S f ro m I n d i a n O c c u p i e d K a s h m i r ” , p u bl i s h e d by H u r r i ya t C o n fe r e n c e , c o m p i l e s d a t a a b o u t I n d i a n a t ro c i t i e s o n t h e b a s i s o f w e l l - i nv e s t i g a t e d r e p o r t s

Articles 32 and 33 of the Act make provisions for central and state governments grants to the commission However the Commission is debarred from inquiring into brutal acts of the armed forces Notwithstanding jurisdictional fetters to its feet the Commission has been very active in chasing violations of human rights not only by saffronized civilians but also by Army and security forces the European Parliament has passed an “urgency resolution on mass graves in Kashmir”

that strongly condemns, inter alia, the enforced disappearance and unlawful killing of Kashmiris Kashmiris from all walks of life have been demanding the establishment of an international commission to look into fake encounters, disappearances’ and mass graves So far, the UNO has not fulfilled their demand However two non-governmental organizations the International Human Rights Association of American Minorities and the International Council for Human Rights have held a convention on disappearances and unmarked and mass graves in the context of international law the conference convention was held at the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva (Switzerland) the purpose of the convention was to draw the attention of the world to the plight of the bereaved families Renowned academics scholars international lawyers representatives of civil society members of the police as well as forensic archaeologists and forensic anthropologists, participated in the convention India claims to be the world’s largest democracy However its shiny’ face has been scarred by atrocities committed by its Army and security forces in occupied Kashmir (and India s North East) the SOS from Indian Occupied Kashmir published by Hurriyat Conference, compiles data about Indian atrocities on the basis of well-investigated reports India is currently hobnobbing with the USA in the QUAD to contain China It is sure that, in the unipolar world, the world community will not turn its attention to its gory tactics for repressing Kashmiris Efforts by human-rights organizations to wake up the UN conscience have not been fruitful Unfortunately the Indian media also toes the government s line For instance Hindustan times (May 6 2021) reported three terrorists were killed after an encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on May 5 Killing Innocent civilians, after dubbing them Pakistani militants , is a known phenomenon in Indian-held Kashmir the people killed incommunicado in Army custody are secretly buried in remote villages of Kashmir

Due to the level playing field it creates for all market participants, a transparent and accountable legal system fosters an environment that is conducive to investment and business Additionally, it makes sure that agreements are upheld and that property rights and intellectual property are protected the Constitution of Pakistan is the supreme law of the land and it contains several provisions related to upholding the rule of law in the country these provisions ensure that everyone is subject to the same laws and held accountable for their actions, and that the fundamental rights of citizens are protected It is the responsibility of the state to ensure that these provisions are implemented effectively and that the rule of law is upheld in practice I m p r o v i n g p e o p l e s l i v e s i n P a k i s t a n r eq u i r e s a s t r o n g l e g a l s y s t e m I t e n s u r e s t h a t e v e r y o n e h a s a c c e s s t o t h e l e g a l s y s t e m a n d c a n p u r s u e r e d r e s s f o r t h e i r g r i e v a n c e s I t a l s o p r o v i d e s a f r a m e w o r k f o r f a i r n e s s j u s t i c e a n d e q u a l i t y A d d i t i o na l l y i t e n s u r e s t h a t P a k i s t a n c a n d e v e l o p a m o r e e q u i t a b l e p r o sp e r o u s a n d s t a b l e s o c ie t y f o r i t s c i t i z e n s a n d f o s t e r s a n e n v i r o n m e n t t h a t i s c o n d u c i v e t o e c o n o m i c g r o w t h a n d d e v e l o p m e n t I t i s t i m e f o r P a k i s t a n t o t a k e t h e r e q u i r e d a c t i o n s t o b u i l d u p a s t r o n g l e g a l s y s t e m a n d m a k e s u r e t h a t e v e r y o n e i s h e l d l i a b l e f o r t h e i r a c t i o n s the writer is an Advocate of the High Courts of Pakistan He holds an L L B from the University of London and a B B A from Heriot-Watt University He can be reached at advocatehc adam@gmail com and on Instagram com/advocate adam

E d i t o r ’ s m a i l

S e n d y o u r l e t t e r s t o : L e t t e r s t o E d i t o r Pakistan today, 4 - S h a a re y F a t i m a J i n n a h L a h o re P a k i s t a n E - m a i l : l e t t e r s @ p a k i s t a n t o d a y c o m p k L e t t e r s s h o u l d b e a d d re s s e d t o Pakistan today e x c l u s i v e l y

Let justice prevail

this refers to the editorial Seditious utterances (Feb 15) which has expressed concerns over indiscriminate use of sedition charges by the government against its opponents, arguing that the utterances by a former finance minister, if proved true, were inappropriate but not seditious

It is true that persecuting political rivals has a long and pathetic history in Pakistan, and this is one of the reasons for political instability this is an unending game of revenge and counter-revenge that should stop

However there must be exceptions and we must differentiate between political victimisation and the crimes committed against the people the main opposition party which was ousted through legal and parliamentary vote of confidence has since indulged in a maligning campaign this problem has grown to such an extent that it has pushed the country towards a destructive path of instability international isolation and economic and political crises

the United States was accused of regime change without any proof and it has now been given a clean chit by the same accusers Our timetested friends, including the likes of China and Saudi Arabia, have their own reasons to express displeasure the former finance minister was, to my ears, subversive in his approach during the conversation in question, which, by the way, he has never actually denied

When a former minister speaks, his words are taken seriously and he not only presented Pakistani economy in fragile condition but went on to advise two provincial governments to withhold surplus funds to sabotage the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme the millions of people who are today finding it hard to put two or even one square meal on the table for their families are facing the circumstances partly because of such utterances there is no doubt that successive governments have had their fair share in bringing the economy to the current critical stage but none has been more destabilising than the current oposition If such tendencies are allowed to prosper, everyone and anyone would spread toxicity and suffocate the state which is passing through a critical phase It is in the national interest to let justice prevail GULSHER PANHWER JOHI

Indigenous resources

Pakistan faces serious economic challenges nowadays Data from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) shows foreign exchange reserves having plunged to abysmally low levels the government is restricting imports to control the outflow, which is only exacerbating the matter as more than 70 per cent of the import relates to energy and raw material; two areas that are essential to keep the economy running

We can get out of the chronic balance of payment crisis by exploiting local resources Pakistan has massive coal reserves in thar We can and should use coal to generate electricity rather than depending on expensive regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) and furnace oil this will significantly save the foreign reserves and also ensure energy security by reducing dependence on imported fuel

Moreover Pakistan has accumulated circular debt of about $2 5 trillion by using expensive fuel for electricity generation thar coal will diversify the energy mix and help us reduce overall electricity cost According to the National transmission and Despatch Company (NtDC), power production cost based on thar coal is only 3 39 per unit, which is almost 10 times less than the average electricity production cost therefore, instead of trying to quickly build the reserves by borrowing from global multilateral institutions and friendly countries, our policymakers ought to fix the real bottlenecks that are preventing us from attaining sustainable and long-term development

i v i l i a n H o m e R u l e

L i t t l e m o re t h a n p re - I n d e p e n d e n c e m e a n i n g s

were allowed independence in local affairs with almost no say in the international and defence domain

IN D I C At E D earlier (last month) in these very columns was the initiation of the Pakistan-USA Security Dialogue with the participation of all three services, in the USA In the follow-up of that, meetings between civilian stakeholders too have taken place In the statements coming out of the dialogue in Islamabad, it seems now clear that the points of reference between the US administration and the Pakistani state remain the fall-out of the most recent engagement; the post-9/11 one these developments are further indicated by how the top military brass is consoling the business community about the expected economic recovery In the reported meeting of the COAS with business leaders and repeated stories of optimism displayed by the top points towards complete command It means that the global security order best personified in the form of Pentagon and NAtO the established order in Pakistan has been recognized as the resource persons to deal with as was evident in the February dialogue between the three services and their counterparts in the US military to back that up, an unprecedented crackdown against dissident political trends like the PtI, with scant regard to the human rights aspect, clearly points out that with the US-led security setup at the back; the domestic security systems following the footsteps of defunct SAVAK of Muhammad Raza Pahlavi feel emboldened the brutal killing of an autistic political activist seems to have turned into a baggage for the current dispensation; with the contradiction that it feels emboldened like yesteryear s pro-US system led by General Zia ul Haque

In the backdrop of these developments what is the role of the civilian heads of states heads of the government etc; whosoever is able to take the reins of power after much awaited 2023-2024 polls? A policymaker role, which the late ZAB tried unsuccessfully between 1971 and 1977 Alternatively, the one, which was practiced by the Congress and Muslim League ministries during the Home Rule option allowed by the British before 1947? It was a scenario where Congress and AIML

For the political parties committed to play by the book during that era it meant either supporting the British war effort or looking the other way in a noncommittal manner and not opposing it While in the case of the succeeding states of Pakistan and India Indians tried successfully to remain non-aligned Keeping a distance and a working relationship with major powers like the USA the then USSR and emerging European powers Pakistan regretfully fell like a ripe apple in the lap of the US-led security order A fall, which still haunts that nation state to date

Consequently, the first decade of chaotic civilian rule in newly independent Pakistan was punctuated with the usual making and breaking of coalitions, while the country's security imperatives were allowed to slide into the Pentagon’s sphere In 1954, much before the coup by Ayub Khan in 1958 Pakistan was made part of the Baghdad Pact the forerunner of CENtO with duties similar to what it was to perform in later defence cooperation pacts that earlier integration was indicative of the fact that the international security establishment was cozier with the regimented and less likely to talk with the civilians

In fact the only time the USA expressed its desire to have the participation of the civilian counterpart was the Kerry-Lugar Bill , which recognized the then civilian government led by the PPP as the sovereign countersignatory the bill was unusual even from the point that it called for more civilian integration between the governments of the USA and Pakistan, while keeping the military sphere subject to certain checks and balances

It also made an unusual commitment to ‘democratic rule in Pakistan’ besides parliamentary say in issues of national security

Coming back to the discourse ZAB despite the fact that he led a radical grouping of left-leaning activists formulated in the form of the PPP could not struggle to get Pakistan out of CENtO or SEAtO when he finally led Pakistan as head of the state and head of the government between 1971 1977 What he was able to do was to diversify Pakistan engagements; specifically during the 1973 Arab-Israeli conflict the next civilian Prime Minister to be shown the

door for asking too much was the late Mohammad Khan Junejo; who tried to assert his authority over the controversial Ojhri Camp blast in 1988 Apologists of the late dictator Zia still criticize the former PM for what they call forcing a civilian solution on the Afghan Jihad; admonishing him for what they called surrendering Mujahedeen gains in the Geneva talks’ At the core was neither the interests of the Afghans or combatants, it was just the case of a ‘no ball’, a proverbial crossing of the crease by Junejo

Regretfully the USA despite its commitment to democratic ideals forced the PPP led by the late Benazir Bhutto in 1988 to negotiate power sharing with the legacy leadership left out after the illfated C-130 crash the new democratic government was the first instance of ‘home rule’ where the national-level party was supposed to touch a few domains and leave the others in the arms of the armed forces In that context the Nawaz Sharif-led PML was more realistic It took upon itself infrastructure investment in the form of motorways within the city transport facilitation initiatives and catering to its core vote bank; the trading community; through a few cosmetic reforms, a few incentives in the Finance Bill part of the federal and provincial budget documents However its central leadership’s bid to control all aspects led it to run into conflict with the established order One presidential dismissal under Article 58(2b) and one coup was indicative of when cr)ossing the red lines was not tolerated the two experiences f the mainstream parties PPP and PML(N with the powers to be in the aftermath of Musharraf too have been the similar story there has been virtually no bar on home rule initiatives, benign

Four contenders v ying to become Lebanon's next president

legislation and a few social assistance programmes

Any other initiative has been opposed by the established

order One exception has been the Osama raid where the establishment was caught compromised

I t w i l l b e n a ï v e o n t h e p a r t o f p o l i t i c i a n s o n e i t h e r s i d e o f t h e p o l i t i c a l d i v i d e t o cl a i m t h a t a n ew Pa k i s t a n w i l l d aw n o u t o f t h e mu ch - aw a i t e d g e n e r a l e l e c t i o n s W i t h ev e r y p a r t y r e fe r r i n g t o t h e ‘ s o u rc e ’ o f ‘ r e a l p ow e r ’ i n o n e - w ay o r a n o t h e r ; i t i s p u r e p o l i t i c s a t wo r k p e r m i t t e d u n d e r t h e p rov e r b i a l S O P s o f t h e ‘ h o m e r u l e ’ F o r t h e P T I , i t i s a l i fe t i m e d i l e m m a a s w e l l a s t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o t r a n s fo r m i t s e l f i n t o a t r u e r evo l u t i o n a r y va n g u a rd o r r e m a i n j u s t a ny o t h e r p o l i t i c a l p a r t y, o n ly i n t e r e s t e d i n c u r r y i n g f avo u r w i t h t h e p ow e rs t h a t b e T i m e w i l l t e l l a n d t h e g e nu i n e w i l l o f i t s l e a d e rs h i p w i l l b e t h e d e c i d i n g f a c t o rs a

At that time the DGMO took pains to explain the circumstances of the US raid the other exception was Pakistan's decision not to be part of the Saudi coalition in the Yemen war At that time, the supremacy of Parliament was made use of by the civilians to upstage the military In that context a relatively new entrant in the corridors of power the PtI understandably choose to tread the safe line; like propoor initiatives PM complaint portals and such like It even supported marginalization of the specific groups under suspicion of links with undesirable neighbouring countries to appease the real power centres, until the Ukraine War Despite denials from both sides as to what transpired for a staunchly pro-US nation state like Pakistan it was an unbelievable thing to do Seen in the backdrop of these ground realities it will be naïve on the part of politicians on either side of the political divide to claim that a new Pakistan will dawn out of the much-awaited general elections With every party referring to the ‘source’ of ‘real power ’ in one-way or another; it is pure politics at work permitted under the proverbial SOPs of the ‘home rule For the PtI it is a lifetime dilemma as well as the opportunity to transform itself into a true revolutionary vanguard or remain just any other political party only interested in currying favour with the powers that be time will tell and the genuine will of its leadership will be the deciding factors

The writer is a freelance columnist

of looting not dual citizenship

al-Monitor A

LE B A N E S E President Michel

Aoun left office last October, finishing a six-year term that saw a deepening political divide and a worsening economic crisis

Since Aoun's departure, the Lebanese parliament has convened and failed more than 10 times to elect a new president the position under Lebanon s sectarian system is held by a Maronite Christian and the ongoing void is exacerbating Lebanon s political instability and economic crisis According to the Lebanese constitution the 128-member legislature requires a majority of two-thirds (85) to elect a president in the first round, and then in the second round, a candidate can be elected by a simple majority of 65 lawmakers As the chamber continues to deliberate on the issue in effort to get to the 85 votes here is a breakdown of the top four who have emerged as the leading potential successors to Aoun

Frangieh also has the support of House Speaker Nabih Berri's Amal party, a close ally of Hezbollah Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati also endorsed Frangieh for president in November But even with those and Hezbollah Frangieh is currently short of the 65 seats as he lacks support from the major Christian parties the Lebanese Forces (LF) the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and the Phalangists Hanin Ghaddar, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Hezbollah s strategy is not necessarily to get Frangieh into the presidency the group could be bargaining and ultimately settle for a compromise candidate under certain conditions “this is more of a negotiation technique ” Ghaddar told AlMonitor “Hezbollah wants a consensus president to make sure this person gives them certain guarantees Ghaddar said Hezbollah s main goals are ensuring the president will allow Hezbollah to retain control over their weapons military operations and territories Hezbollah may also settle for a president they did not nominate so as to avoid blame for Lebanon s situation, she said Aoun was elected in 2016 with support from Hezbollah, and in turn “Hezbollah got all the blame for bringing him as president and bringing the collapse of the country ” said Ghaddar “they don’t want to be blamed anymore "

GEBRAN BASSIL

Daily Star b i r u pA k s h A pAu l

SULEIMAN FRANGIEH Hezbollah the Lebanese Shiite political party and militia threw its backi n g b e h i n d S u l e i m a n F r a n g i e h ' s presidential bid the natural candidate we support in the presidential elections i s m i n i s t e r S u l e i m a n F r a n g i e h H e z b o l l a h s e c r e t a r y g e n e r a l H a s s a n N a s r a l l a h s a i d i n a t e l e v i s e d s p e e c h

Frangieh 56 a former member of parl i a m e n t a n d l e a d e r o f t h e p r o - S y r i a Christian political party Marada, hails f r o m a p o l i t i c a l d y n a s t y i n n o r t h e r n L e b a n o n H i s g r a n d f a t h e r a n d n a m esake was president from 1970 to 1976 t h e L e b a n e s e c i v i l w a r b r o k e o u t i n 1975 and lasted 15 years t h e g r a n d s o n a n d H e z b o l l a hb a c k e d c a n d i d a t e i s a c l o s e p e r s o n a l f r i e n d o f S y r i a n P r e s i d e n t B a s h a r a lA s s a d h a v i n g s p e n t t i m e i n S y r i a d u ri n g t h e L e b a n e s e c i v i l w a r H i s f a t h e r m o t h e r a n d s i s t e r w e r e a s s a s s i n a t e d i n

1 9 7 8 w h i c h p r o m p t e d t h e m o v e t o S y r i a

GEN JOSEPH AOUN G e n J o s e p h A o u n ( n o r e l a t i o n t o t h e f o r m e r p r e s i d e n t ) i s t h e c o mm a n d e r o f t h e L e b a n e s e A r m e d F o r c e s U n l i k e F r a n g i e h h e e n j o y s s o m e s u p p o r t f r o m t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s t h e G u l f a n d F r a n c e Wa s h i n g t o n a n d P a r i s h a v e s h i e d a w a y f r o m s u p p o r ti n g a n y c a n d i d a t e p u b l i c l y b u t t h e a r m y i s s e e n a s a p i l l a r o f s t a b i l i t y i n L e b a n o n a m i d t h e w o r s t e c o n o m i c c r is i s i n L e b a n e s e h i s t o r y B u t f o r G e n A o u n , 5 9 , t o b e e l e c t e d , a v o t e o n a c o n s t i t u t i o n a l a m e n d m e n t i s r e q u i r e d i n t h e p a r l i am e n t , s i n c e t h e L e b a n e s e c o n s t i t u t i o n does not allow for a candidate to be an operational army officer As Al-Monitor r e p o r t e d L e b a n o n h a s e l e c t e d f o u r army commanders to the presidency in the past starting with Fouad Chehab in 1 9 5 8 m a i n l y E m i l e L a h o u d ( 1 9 9 82 0 0 7 ) M i c h e l S u l i e m a n ( 2 0 0 8 - 2 0 1 4 )

and Michel Aoun (2016-2022) Gen Aoun gave a fiery speech on tuesday defending the armed forces against fabricated rumors and accusations of corruption, the Lebanese news outlet Naharnet reported the Lebanese news outlet LBCI described the speech as “presidential ”

A third name circulating for the presidency is Gebran Bassil who heads the Free Patriotic Movement and is the sonin-law of former President Michel Aoun Bassil is also close to Hezbollah but has yet to announce his candidacy Bassil 52 is a divisive figure in Lebanese politics and does not have enough support outside the FPM In 2020 he was sanctioned by the US government under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which targets human rights abuses and corruption He denies the corruption allegations Former President Aoun could maintain influence should Bassil become president "I cannot hide my closeness to the head of state and his paternal role in relation to me politically But in general it is the son who listens to his father and not the other way around Bassil told the Lebanese news outlet L Orient today in 2020 Reuters reported in November that Bassil was seeking a compromise candidate but leaving the door open for a presidential bid of his own MICHEL MOAWAD

Moawad is currently a member of parliament and declared his candidacy for presidency last year He is the son of former President Rene Moawad, who was assassinated in office in 1989 just 17 days after taking office Moawad, 50, has considerable support from the US, according to Ghaddar, who pointed out that the Rene Moawad Foundation a philanthropic organization is based in Washington Moawad met with US ambassador Dorothy Shea earlier this month He told the diplomat that he will not accept a president who is an extension of the resistance axis referring to Hezbollah LBCI reported Hezbollah adamantly opposes Moawad and the parliament member has criticized them the state does not have the monopoly on arms, where the strategic decisions are taken today by Hezbollah, Moawad told the National in February Know more: Someone out of the pool of four (Moawad, Bassil, Aoun and Frangieh) could emerge in the twists and turns of Lebanese politics and become president Former Interior Minister Ziad Baroud an independent has also been floated as a potential next president by Lebanese media but he has not had enough backing from the political establishment

I"S B a n g l a d e s h a p l a c e o f l o o ters?" – this question was raised b y t h e H i g h C o u r t l a s t m o n t h the court asked this question referring to a recent Bangla report, whose headline roughly translates to "Festival of purchasing properties abroad " the court's q u e s t i o n i s i n d i c a t i v e o f w h a t i s g o i n g o n i n the financial sector of Bangladesh right now

But to blame dual citizenship for the evergrowing culture of looting as well as money laundering may be inappropriate the act of earning a second citizenship in another country has never been a main contributor to trafficking funds overseas While investigating the main reasons or avenues of illicit outflows of funds, not a single report of the US-based think tank Global Financial Integrity has blamed dual citizenship as a vital reason Rather, dual citizenship has proven to be a boon to remittance inflows in Bangladesh, and those inflows rescued the economy from sliding into a full-scale disaster emerging from the dollar crisis

As reports in February unveiled the US is the top source of remittances to Bangladesh surpassing Saudi Arabia and the UAE the US requires residency or citizenship to allow Bangladeshi people to earn and send dollars to their home country Other European countries that award citizenship to Bangladeshi people are gradually turning out to be increasingly reliable sources of remittance income In contrast, Middle-Eastern countries are gradually losing their oil-based revenue because of the rise in green substitutes these nations are comparatively restrictive in offering their citizenship to Bangladeshi workers As a result the relative share of remittance from these countries is dwindling the court s direction in framing causality may be mistaken Dual citizenship is not the root factor for looting wealth from the country It is the very Bangladeshi style of rewarding for looting banks that is to blame for the financial haemorrhage that Bangladesh is facing now In the name of loan rescheduling, the general amnesty conferred upon the big defaulters by the central bank is a major reason why the act of looting has triggered a renaissance of stashing funds overseas of late Recently, a former central bank governor commented that the concessions given to defaulters in this country have no parallel in any country or in history

Of course the looters are sometimes seeking dual citizenship under the investment residency quota in different countries by showing their enormous wealth which they gained through the loose banking rules approved by the government Getting citizenship in developed countries is hard and problematic for them because those countries will ask for evidence of valid sources these looters prefer parking their funds in countries where there are less queries

In the end, they park their ill-gotten money in the Swiss Bank which does not ask anything thus, allowing these looters to steal and get away with it in the first place is the root cause

Hundreds of cases on defaulted loans are pending with legal institutions, and there has been no exemplary punishment for those who plundered public money that impunity induces the delinquent borrowers to acquire dual citizenship in order to protect their future overseas the trend of money laundering as well as defaulting on loans is simultaneously rising since the government allowed extended family-based directorship in private banks in 2017 It invariably helped banks turn into private shops for siblings and cronies and largely ruined the corporate culture these institutional changes and privileges to the tycoons are at the root of money laundering the tardiest legal system has refuelled the culture of looting A former caretaker government adviser recently blamed court stay orders on big default cases – a process that has made the wound even worse the justices commented that dual citizenship holders have less responsibility towards the country as their hearts are divided thousands of students migrate to developed nations every year for higher studies When they earn citizenship after getting jobs they send money back to their families they also enrich their birthplace by delivering their ideas technology and expertise – which economists define as trickle-down benefits Many Bangladeshis migrate overseas through lotteries or family visas they struggle a lot, but still send money back to their home country By any means, these are not any instances of either less responsibility or divided hearts

Forty-nine percent of all countries now allow dual citizenship and most of them are developed or middle-income countries After understanding how beneficial dual citizenship can be for Bangladesh in an increasingly globalised world the government on February 27 added another 44 countries on top of the existing 57 countries where Bangladeshis can get dual citizenship this step deserves appreciation as timely and farsighted for a super-densely populated country like Bangladesh

While Bangladesh appears to be liberal in allowing dual citizenship, both Pakistan and India are highly restrictive But the amount of money laundered out of India or Pakistan is no less than that from Bangladesh the 2021 Global Financial Integrity Report shows that Bangladesh lost the third highest quantity of trade-related outflows ($8 3 billion) after Pakistan ($8 5 billion) and India ($67 5 billion) annually over 2009-2018 the revenue loss was 17 percent for Bangladesh 19 percent for Pakistan and 20 percent for India the nature of citizenship seems to have played no role in their case

Poor governance in the financial sector politicised interventions into banking affairs allowing massive clemency to habitual defaulters, rewarding money launderers in the national budget and, finally, not punishing any big defaulters or stock market scammers are the main reasons why money laundering and buying properties abroad by a handful of bandits have skyrocketed On February 6, the agriculture minister acknowledged the evolution of Begum Paras in Canada US and Dubai It has nothing to do with dual citizenship which has been in place among nations for decades If anyone is politically pampered and plots to be a wilful defaulter they needn t be overseas to remain safe they are much safer in what the court labels as a place of looters If they can somehow manage a nomination for the next election, this place will turn into a "paradise of plundering" for them Why would anyone care about dual citizenship then?

Dr Birupaksha Paul is a professor of economics at the State University of New York at Cortland in the US

I s d u a l c i t i z e n s h i p t o b l a m e f o r m o n e y l a u n d e r i n g ?

I r a n , U S r E a c h p r I S o n E r S w a p d E a l

DUBAI R e u t e R s

IRAN and the United States have reached an agreement to exchange prisoners Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told state TV on Sunday adding that he hoped the exchange would take place soon

Regarding the issue of prisoner swaps between Iran and the US we have reached an agreement in the recent days and if everything goes well on the US side, I think we will witness a prisoner exchange in a short period, Amirabdollahian said “On our part everything is ready, while the US is currently working on the final technical coordination ”

One of several Americans held in Iran is Siamak Namazi a businessman with dual US-Iranian citizenship who

was sentenced in 2016 to 10 years in prison for spying and cooperating with the US government Emad Sharghi, an Iranian-American businessman was first arrested in 2018 when he was working for a tech investment company, is also jailed in Iran, as is Iranian-American environmentalist Morad Tahbaz who also holds British citizenship

I r a n i a n s o u r c e s t o l d R e u t e r s t h a t two regional countries were involved in the series of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington for the release of prisoners F o r y e a r s Te h r a n h a s s o u g h t t h e r e l e a s e o f m o r e t h a n a d o z e n I r a n ia n s i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s , i n c l u d i n g s e v e n I r a n i a n - A m e r i c a n d u a l n at i o n a l s , t w o I r a n i a n s w i t h p e r m an e n t U S r e s i d e n c y a n d f o u r I r a n i a n c i t i z e n s w i t h n o l e g a l s t a t u s i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s

Israeli army kills three Palestinian gunmen in West Bank

NABLUS

A F P

Israeli soldiers shot dead three Palestinian people after they fired at troops in the occupied northern West Bank the army said on Sunday as violence in the region continued

The military said that gunmen opened fire at an army position near the Jit junction west of Nablus, with the soldiers responding with live fire

Three armed gunmen were neutralised during the exchange of fire and an additional armed gunman surrendered himself to the forces,” the army said in a statement noting none of the Israeli forces were wounded in the clash

The soldiers members of the elite infantry Golani reconnaissance unit grabbed three M-16 rifles and a pistol used by the Palestinians the army said

The Palestinian health ministry said it was informed about the deaths of three

men killed by Israeli gunfire near Nablus, without providing further details

The incident took place a short distance from an illegal Israeli settlement, with the head of the regional Samaria settler council praising the army for “taking out the murderous terrorist squad operating in the area

We will continue to live and build here in Samaria and the entire region the murderous Palestinian Authority terror won t deter us Yossi Dagan said in a statement using the name Israel uses for the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967

Violence intensified last year, but has worsened in the West Bank since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to office in December in a governing coalition with ultra-Orthodox Jewish and extreme-right allies

The government of Netanyahu who is on trial for corruption on charges he

‘King Kohli’ gets Test ton after three-year wait

AHMEDABAD A F P

India s superstar cricketer Virat Kohli hit his first Test century since November 2019, ending his long drought on day four of the fourth Test against Australia on Sunday “King Kohli” reached his 28th Test hundred off 241 balls with a single off Nathan Lyon sparking wild celebrations at the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad Appearing to tear up he acknowledged the crowd and the dressing room before kissing the locket on his gold chain as he smiled and looked up to the sky Commentator Ravi Shastri screamed a 600-kilo gorilla is off his back He will grow a couple of inches taller by this evening A placard in the crowd read Here to see King Kohli ruling in his kingdom as children in India shirts bowed in respect The star batsman resumed on his overnight score of 59 after he got his first Test half-century since January 2022 on day three on a pitch favouring the batsmen Kohli 34 went through an extended lean patch last year failing to reach three figures in more than 1 000 days He quit as T20 skipper in late 2021 and in January 2022 was sacked from the one-day captaincy and gave up leading the Test side too But he hit his first ton after 1 020 days in the Asia Cup T20 tournament in September last year and hasn t looked back since Kohli finished the T20 World Cup in Australia as the leading run-scorer and then hit three ODI centuries, including two 113 and 166 not out against Sri Lanka in January The former captain has a Test average of more than 48 in 108 matches since making his debut in 2011 and has struck 75 centuries across the three international formats Kohli remains behind Australia stand-in-skipper Steve Smith and England s Joe Root in the number of Test centuries between the fabulous four the leading four batsmen of the modern era Smith overtook Kohli during the Indian batsman s lean phase and now has 30 Test centuries since his previous 95th Test

India will never succeed to conquer Kashmiris through militar y might: Gulzar

SRINAGAR s tA F F R e P o R t

denies, has vowed to continue the expansion of West Bank settlements

Calls for revenge: On Thursday, a member of the armed wing of the Palestinian movement Hamas opened fire outside a Tel Aviv cafe, wounding three men in their 30s before being shot dead Hours before three armed Palestinians were killed in an Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank Several Palestinian armed groups had called on Tuesday for revenge for the recent deaths of six Palestinians in an Israeli army raid in the northern West Bank

The Tel Aviv attack came just hours after Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin had called for de-escalation ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan that starts in March and the Jewish holiday of Passover in April Austin following talks with Netanyahu and his counterpart Yoav Gallant during a brief visit to Israel also

called on the Palestinian leadership to combat terrorism and to resume security cooperation and to condemn incitement” In Beitar Illit, a Jewish settlement in the West Bank southwest of Jerusalem, the army said bomb disposal experts had detonated a suspicious package found on a bus Thursday evening A Palestinian from a nearby village was arrested on Saturday for having placed an explosive device on the bus along with four others suspected of aiding him the army said

Since the start of the year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of 81 Palestinian adults and children 12 Israeli adults, including militants and one policeman, as well as one Ukrainian civilian have been killed over the same period according to an AFP tally based on official sources from both sides

Zalmi thrash Islamabad United in thrilling HBL PSL game

ISLAMABAD s tA F F R e P o R t

Peshawar Zalmi thumped Islamabad United by 13 runs in a thrilling 29th match and the last game at Pindi Stadium Rawalpindi, of the HBL PSL 8 on Sunday afternoon Zalmi suffered a middle-order collapse to stutter to 179 for eight and then overcame Faheem Ashraf s late charge to dismiss Islamabad for 166 in 19 4 overs

The result meant Islamabad United and Multan Sultans finished their league matches on 12 points each However Multan Sultans were placed second and Islamabad United third on net run-rate meaning Multan Sultans will meet table-toppers and defending champions Lahore Qalandars on 15 March in the Qualifier and Islamabad United will again take on fourth-placed Peshawar Zalmi in Eliminator 1 on 16 March

The March 15 Qualifier would be a repeat of the HBL PSL 7 final between Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans The winner of the said Qualifier would progress to the March 19 final, while the losing side will have another opportunity to earn a place in the final when they take on the winner of the March 16 Eliminator 1 in Eliminator 2 on March 17

After Islamabad United’s top and middle-order made a mess of a straightforward run-chase by slipping from 65 for three to 111 for eight No 8 batter Faheem Ashraf came to the party and slapped four sixes and two fours in a 13-ball 38 to give his side some hope In association with Mohammad Wasim (14 not out) the left-hander added 55 runs from 24 balls for the ninth wicket

With 21 runs required in the final over Faheem struck a six off the second ball to bring the target down to 14 from four balls However Khurram Shahzad castled Faheem and Fazalhaq Farooqi off successive deliveries to seal a memorable win for Peshawar Zalmi, who in the previous two matches had failed to defend totals of 240 and 242

While Khurram finished with figures of three for 13 in 10 balls, spinner Sufiyan Muqeem caused the middleorder collapse by accounting for Shadab Khan (25), Asif Ali (5) and Hasan Ali (0) to finish with figures of three for 37

Jimmy Neesham picked up the prized scalps of middle-order batters Rahmanullah Gurbaz (33) and Colin Munro (15) to end with two for 23 while Aamer Jamal

scooped the wickets of top-order batters Alex Hales and Sohaib Maqsood (15 each) to finish with two for 28

Earlier, Mohammad Haris and Bhanuka Rajapaksa put on 115 runs in 58 balls for the second wicket to put Peshawar Zalmi on course for another colossal total when they took their side to 116 for the loss of Saim Ayub (0) at the halfway stage

But the Strategic Timeout turned things on its head as Islamabad United roared back to capture seven wickets for 63 runs to restrict Peshawar Zalmi to 179 for eight This included an unfinished 18-run ninth wicket stand from 21 balls between Khurram Shahzad (11 not out) and Sufiyan Muqeem (6 not out) Haris top-scored with an attractive 79 off 39 balls with seven fours and five sixes, while Rajapaksa slapped four fours and two sixes in a 25-ball 41 Haris maiden half-century of this tournament came from 26 balls with five fours and three sixes He was later adjudged player of the match Hasan Ali was the pick of Islamabad United bowlers with three for 39 while Shadab Khan took two for 42 Scores in brief: Peshawar Zalmi 179-8 20 overs (Mohammad Haris 79 Bhanuka Rajapaksa 41; Hasan Ali 3-39 Shadab Khan 2-42) Islamabad United 166 19 4 overs (Faheem Ashraf 38 Rahmanullah Gurbaz 33 Shadab Khan 25; Khurram Shahzad 3-13 Sufiyan Muqeem 3-37 Jimmy Neesham 2-23, Aamer Jamal 2-28)

In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) senior leader Ghulam Ahmed Gulzar has said that Kashmir is not an integral part of India but an internationally recognized dispute According to Kashmir Media Service Ghulam Ahmed Gulzar in a statement issued in Srinagar said India will never succeed to conquer Kashmiris through use of its military might and the Kashmiris will never allow RSS to impose its devilish Hindutva agenda in IIOJK He said killing of innocent Kashmiris, inhuman and degrading torture, random arrest, sealing of properties, bulldozing of houses, imposition of taxes, termination of Kashmiri employees and molestation of womenfolk and other heinous crimes have become order of the day in IIOJK India has turned the occupied territory into the most militarized zone of the world and its over one million troops are trampling everything under jackboots he added Ghulam Ahmed Gulzar said besides using brute force conspiracies are also hatched to snatch the identity culture and resources of the Kashmiris Since 5th August 2019 the Modi regime has been hell bent to destroy everything and turn Kashmir into a graveyard But the resilient Kashmiris are showing great courage, determination and steadfastness to counter Hindutva forces, he maintained He said that Kashmiris have yet again proved that their passion for freedom is invincible and indomitable He said the great resistance, shown by Kashmiris, have frustrated India and it is brutalizing Kashmiris with atrocious vengeance He said Kashmiris have defeated India and the day is not far away when Kashmiris will break shackles of slavery and force India to quit He also appealed to the United Nations and other human rights organizations to play its role in resolution of the Kashmir dispute

Youth found hanging in pulwama

SRINAGAR

s tA F F R e P o R t

In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, a youth was found hanging in his residence in the Pampore area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district According to Kashmir Media Service, the deceased was identified as Owais Gull (27), a resident of Befina Pampore Police officials told media men that a youth from Befina committed suicide by hanging in his house According to reports family members saw him hanging and shifted him to the sub-district hospital Pampore where doctors declared him dead A police party from pampore reached the hospital after receiving information and they took the body under their custody After medico-legal formalities the body of the deceased was handed over to the family for last rites police officials said

Bangladesh stun England to seal T20 series

DHAKA

Ag e n c e s

Mehidy Hasan Miraz shone with ball and bat as Bangladesh stunned England to win the second Twenty20 international by four wickets and seal the series 2-0 Mehidy bowled a career-best 4-12 to help the hosts bowl out England for 117 before he hit 20 off 16 balls as Bangladesh raced to 120-6 in 18 5 overs Najmul Hossain top-scored at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka with 46 not out for Bangladesh who have now won at least one series in one format against all Test-playing countries The hosts won the first match of the series by six wickets in Chittagong Sent into bat first England were rarely in the contest after losing their way in the middle of the innings as their batsmen struggled to cope with a low and slow wicket in Mirpur Shakib Al Hasan Taskin Ahmed Hasan Mahmud and Mustafizur Rahman each complemented Mehidy with a wicket apiece Ben Duckett top-scored with 28 while Phil Salt made 25 off 19 balls Taskin dismissed opener Dawid Malan for five but Salt and Moeen Ali showed positive intent to put on 34 runs for the second wicket The visitors then lost Salt, skipper Jos Buttler (four) and Ali (15) in consecutive overs to ruin their prospect of putting in a big total Mehidy then struck twice in one over to dismiss Sam Curran (12) and Chris Woakes (0) to deny England a late recovery Bangladesh in their reply lost both their openers Liton Das (nine) and Rony Talukdar (nine) cheaply but young Towhid Hridoy made 17 to steady the innings Najmul and Mehidy put Bangladesh in charge with a 41-run stand England sniffed a chance with a few late wickets as Jofra Archer wracked havoc to finish with 3-13 However Najmul thwarted the visiting side with his unbeaten 47ball innings featuring three boundaries Taskin completed the win with consecutive fours off Chris Jordan in the nineteenth over The third and final match of the series will be held at the same ground on Tuesday England won the preceding three-match one-day international series 21 The matches are important practice for England on South Asian pitches ahead of the ODI World Cup to be held in India later this year

K arachi K ings outclass Q alandars to end HBL PSL 8 on high note

LAHORE s tA F F R e P o R t

Karachi Kings finished the tournament on a high as they trounced table-toppers Lahore Qalandars by 86 runs in the last match of the league stage of the HBL PSL 8 at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Sunday night

Chasing a challenging total of 196-8 Lahore Qalandars meandered stumbled and lost their way at 110-9 when Mohammad Umer claimed the wicket of Haris Rauf in the penultimate over of the match

Lahore Qalandars, led by standin captain David Wiese after Shaheen Shah Afridi opted to rest, never looked to chase a challenging target of 197 runs as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals All-rounder Hussain Talat was the most successful batter for the Qalandars with 25 runs off as many balls while Fakhar Zaman 13 (11) Kamran Ghulam 11

(10) Sam Billings 11 (13) and Haris Rauf 18 (14) were the others to enter double-figure Abdullah Shafique 2 (6), David Wiese 2 (7), and Shane Dadswell 3 (4) could not get going after the pressure of a big total took its toll on the Qalandars batters who lost both of their matches against the arch-rivals Karachi Kings in the HBL PSL

8 Rashid Khan 6 (13) as he retired hurt after an viciously turning googly by Imran Tahir hit him in the helmet and he was taken out as a precautionary measure Zaman Khan 6 (7) remained unbeaten Akif Javed was the most economical bowler for the Kings who conceded eight runs in three overs and grabbed two important wickets of in-form batters Abdullah Shafique and Kamran Ghulam Imad Wasim, Imran Tahir and Mohammad Umar also picked two wickets each for 26, 24 and 20 runs

The Kings outsmart Qalandars in all areas during the match which had academic value only as it did not change the standings of the top four teams led by Lahore Qalandars (14 points) and followed by Multan Sultans (12), Islamabad United (12) and Peshawar Zalmi (10) However, Karachi Kings managed to move past Quetta Gladiators to the fifth spot due to a better run-rate although both the teams had 6 points from 10 matches

Earlier Karachi Kings posted a challenging total of 196-7 courtesy two fifty plus runs partnerships for the second wicket and fifth wicket after they lost early wicket of Haider Ali who fell for 8 runs in the first over of the match off the bowling of Dilber Hussain

b o w l e d f o u r o v e r s f o r 5 2 a n d 7 r u n s r e s p e c t i v e l y D i l b a r H u s s a i n a n d H u s s a i n Ta l a t b o w l e d t h r e e overs each and conceded 37 and 24 r u n s D a v i d Wi e s e b o w l e d o n e over for 6 runs Muhammad Akhlaq was adjudged ‘player of the match’ for his impressive knock which helped Karachi Kings an insurmountable total of 196-8

After two days of rest Lahore Qalandars will face off Multan Sultans in the qualifier of the HBL PSL 8 on March 15 (Wednesday) at the Gaddafi stadium while the eliminator 1 will be played between Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi at the same venue on March 16 (Thursday) The loser of the qualifier and winner of eliminator 1 will meet in the eliminator 2 on March 17 (Friday) at the same venue to decide the second team to play final of the HBL PSL 8 on March 19 (Sunday) at the Gaddafi stadium

LKMW

T sec ures ser vices of Paymob

Latif Kapadia Memorial Welfare Trust (LKMWT), a welfare trust providing healthcare to underprivileged in Karachi, announced that they have secured the services of Paymob a digital gateway for convenient payment processes Mr Raza, Head of Enterprise Business at Paymob, Head of Operations LKMWT Farman Ahmed Khan, and Ms Nigarish Raihan Manager Partnerships and Communications at LKMWT shook hands to officially announce the onboarding This ease in payment method will provide a hassle-free experience for donors who are looking to donate for a good cause and helping LKMWT in ensuring a healthier community pr

S ingle, three -phase, net metering meters available in stores: IESCO CEO

ISLAMABAD: Chief Executive Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) Dr Muhammad Amjad Khan on Sunday said that single-phase, three-phase and net metering meters were available in abundance in the company’s stores and were being provided to all field offices as per their demand "No employee or any person of IESCO is authorized to take cash in connection with the issuance of new electricity connections or other related works, he further said

He said the consumers should make all types of payments related to electricity in the respective banks For any complaint consumers can contact the Chief Executive Complaints and Monitoring Cell No 051-9259233-4 or can send an email at ceo@iesco com pk "These measures are aimed at discouraging corruption in IESCO besides exposing black sheep bringing disrepute to the organization, he said pr

ChInA-PAKIstAn AgRICultuRAl CORRIDOR tO RevOlutIOnIze fARMeRs lIves: XIAng YAng

ISLAMABAD

a p p

tH E China-Pakistan Agricultural Corridor (CPAC) project would bring socio-economic development for farmers in Pakistan and further pave the way for a new era of collaboration between the two allweather strategic partners Director China Study Center of the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) Xiang Yang, in an exclusive talk with APP on Sunday, said that CPAC was a project of highly significance and would serve as a model for other countries in the region to emulate and reinforce the belief that cooperation and partnership could lead to significant achievements and benefits for all She said NUST had signed three documents of understanding with various Chinese institutions to boost agriculture productivity in Pakistan The agreements were inked with Weifang Engineering Vocational College

Qingzhou Municipal People s Government and Weifang National Agricultural

Open Development Comprehensive

Pilot Zone she maintained

She said that this collaboration would enable to share resources, ex-

pertise and knowledge between China and Pakistan and work together towards common goals of improving and promoting sustainable methodologies in agriculture sector She said that the agriculture in the South Asian countries was struggling with low productivity, supply shortfalls low returns to farmers lack of advanced technology and trained professionals and thus threatening food security in the region Addressing these issues will have a significant impact on people s lives particularly in Pakistan, as it is an agroeconomic country with immense potential for crop production and research in agricultural sciences she added Xiang Yang said that NUST was

ISLAMABAD S ta f f r

Under a new initiative China-Pakistan joint lab will be established on wheat research The project will be funded by the Science and Technology Partnership Program of Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST)

The newly-established lab will be located at Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) in partnership with Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) A joint launching ceremony was held recently at QAU and CAAS last week and attended by the researchers from both sides and representatives from both embassies The joint lab will work on developing new climate resilient wheat varieties using new DNA-based technologies and will provide training to wheat scientists

of Pakistan

actively pursuing research on plant biotechnology environmental sciences agri-technology and agribusiness with emphasis on precision agriculture, multi-spectral sensing of crop fields, 3D printing and scanning applications early detection of pathogens and effective plant disease management

However contributing to sustainable agriculture resource management systems is still a major challenge at large, she said and expressed the hope that these agreements would play a vital part in filling this gap

As per the agreements, the institutions would carry out research on the construction of whole agricultural industry chain system between China and Pakistan, research on industrial de-

On the inauguration ceremony, Dr Sarwat Jahan Dean of Biological Sciences welcomed this initiative and emphasized that QAU will facilitate the joint activities of the lab Dr Zhouhua Cao, First Secretary from Chinese embassy in Pakistan said that China has always extended cooperation to Pakistan on Science and Technology and this new joint lab will have all the support needed from Chinese embassy Ms Fareena Arshad Counsellor Pakistan embassy in China welcomed the initiative and said that such partnership programs on food security issues are need of the time and will add value to the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects Dr Awais Rasheed from QAU and Dr Zhonghu from CAAS briefed about the proposed joint lab research activities for the next three years

ISLAMABAD p r

Participants of a panel discussion at International Islamic University (IIU) have stressed upon establishing an authentic platform of Arabic language keeping in view the news and digital media to portray the true image of Pakistan in Arab countries

The discussion on the topic of “Digital Media in Pakistan: Challenges opportunities and strengthening Pakistan s relations with Arab countries was jointly organized by the Department of Protocol and Public relations (P&PR) of IIU and Pakistan Institute of Arabic, at the Faisal Masjid campus of the university

Sharing his thoughts, Dr Talha Kashmiri, Head of Pakistan Institute of Arabic said that increasing polarization in the digital media landscape is alarming He said rigidity has swallowed the ethics of difference of opinion He opined that there is a dire need that people

with a sane approach must come forward and play their role in promoting facts instead of hate speech, radicalization and uncertainty

Senior journalist and digital media expert Sabookh Syed said on the occasion that knowing the digital media propaganda and tackling it with a positive approach is an art He also elaborated the terms of misinformation disinformation and fake news

In his remarks, Incharge Protocol and Public Relations Nasir Farid said that academia and senior digital media experts must come forward to work for the cause of image building of Pakistan Senior Arabic language journalist Abdul Rehman Hayat Assistant Directors (P&PR) Al-Hassan and Muhammad Nauman and students of the university also shared their thoughts on the topic

velopment strategy, industrial demand analysis and development prospect forecasting

They would help in deep processing and industrialization development of local agricultural products besides research and development and integrated innovation of key technologies for efficient standardized cultivation of crops in Pakistan

They would design joint application for projects in the field of agricultural sciences to work together for the social and economic development of the two countries

It is worth mentioning here that the agreements signing ceremony was attended by NUST Pro-Rector Academics Dr Osman Hassan, Acting Director International Office, Dr Umer Asghar and his team Principal Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences with his faculty members and China Study Centre Director Xiang Yang and her team Wang Yong Deputy Director of Weifang National Agricultural Comprehensive District Promotion Office, Li Xiuming Deputy Director Weifang National Comprehensive Pilot Agriculture Zone, Chen Wei, Deputy Mayor of Qingzhou Municipal People’s Government and Wang Jinming Vice President of Weifang Engineering Vocational College

Book ‘Digital Pakistan’ by Dr Imran Batada launched at IoBM

KARACHI p r

The book "Digital Pakistan" by Dr ImranBatada was launched at the Institute of Business Management (IoBM), here the other day

The book offers a complete digital media guideline for policymakers industry professionals and students to move forward transform and contribute to the GDP of Pakistan Dr Ishrat Husain, Former Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan was the Chief Guest at the occasion Mr Fahd Haroon Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Public Communication & Digital Platforms also attended the event Mr Haroon holds an extensive experience in holding government offices covering a wide range of strategic media and public relation domains Dr Imran Batada, an esteemed professional whose career spans over 20 years both locally and internationally is currently serving as the Chief Technology Officer and Director Center for Information Technology (CIT) at IoBM The speakers at the book launch ceremony considerably appreciated his efforts in writing the book that presents a holistic viewpoint and insights on how to best utilize digital media in Pakistan Amongst those who attended the event were renowned professionals including Ashfaque Ahmed Head of Digital BankIslami Pakistan Ltd Shaukat Ali Khan Global Chief Information Officer, Aga Khan University, TabasumAbid, Director IT and Chief Technical Officer, Sindh Police Hussein Hassanali GM Head IT Audit Habib Bank Limited Iftikhar Arif General Manager IT and E-commerce, Muller & Phillips Pakistan; and Sohaib Hassan Co-Founder Brand & Media Learning Hub

Oil leakage occurred at PARCO pipeline in Karachi

KARACHI pr

On Saturday evening, an oil leakage occurred at the PARCO pipeline near Shah Latif Town, Karachi To ensure operational environmental and community safety PARCO teams promptly isolated the area and temporarily suspended oil movement operations No injuries or any loss to private or public property was reported The initial investigation revealed an unsuccessful oil theft attempt by a group of unidentified men resulted in the leakage The perpetrators fled the scene when Police and PARCO’s security team reached the site PARCO s Mid-Country Refinery has sufficient crude stocks to continue refining operations The pipeline operations resumed in approximately seven hours after all necessary steps according to PARCO's SOPs were completed LEAs are further investigating the incident

Digital hate: how social media is failing to protec t users from

The proliferation of digital technologies has transformed the way we communicate and interact with each other In fact numerous social media platforms have enabled individuals to connect with others from different parts of the world share their views and opinions and engage in public debates

However, the same technology has also provided a fertile ground for the spread of hate speech bigotry and intolerance The menace of digital hate has become a significant issue in today s fast-changing digital age, affecting all human beings in one way or the other

Digital hate refers to any form of hate speech or discriminatory behaviour that takes place on online platforms including social media messaging apps and online forums Digital technologies are purported to propagate hate speech, bigotry, and intolerance for some specific purposes It takes different forms including racism sexism homophobia, transphobia, religious intolerance, and xenophobia Digital hate can be expressed in various ways such as text images videos and memes

Social media platforms are the most common venues for digital hate The anonymity and the lack of accountability that social media platforms provide make it easier for people to express their prejudices without fear of reprisal Digital hate speech can also incite violence and create a toxic online environment that can have real-life consequences

Racism is the belief that one race is superior to others Racism can take various forms, such as hate speech, harassment, and discrimination Digital racism can manifest in memes posts comments and messages that promote negative stereotypes and prejudice against individuals based on their race

Sexism is the belief that one gender is superior to the other Digital sexism can take different forms such as sexual harassment objectification, and discrimination Women are the primary targets of digital sexism, and they face a wide range of online abuse including sexual harassment and revenge porn

Homophobia is the irrational fear and hatred of individuals who identify as lesbian gay bisexual or transgender (LGBT) Digital homophobia can take different forms, such as hate speech, harassment, and discrimination Homophobic content can have

real-life consequences, as it can incite violence against LGBT individuals

Transphobia is the irrational fear and hatred of individuals who identify as transgender Digital transphobia can take different forms, such as hate speech, harassment, and discrimination Transphobic content can have real-life consequences as it can incite violence against transgender individuals

Religious intolerance is the refusal to accept the beliefs and practices of individuals from different religions Digital religious intolerance can take different forms, such as hate speech harassment and discrimination

Religious intolerance can incite violence and create a toxic online environment that can have real-life consequences

Xenophobia is the irrational fear and hatred of individuals from different countries and cultures Digital xenophobia can take different forms, such as hate speech, harassment, and discrimination Xenophobic content can incite violence and create a toxic online environment that can have real-life consequences Governments around the world have enacted laws to deal with digital hate speech

The laws aim to protect individuals from online abuse and hold perpetrators accountable for their actions However the laws vary

harmful content

from country to country, and some countries have more robust laws than others The UK has enacted the Communications Act 2003 which criminalizes the sending of grossly offensive, indecent, obscene, or menacing messages over the internet The law carries a maximum sentence The First Amendment protects free speech in the US but there are limitations to this right, such as when speech incites violence or threatens someone’s safety The Communications Decency Act also provides immunity to social media platforms for the content posted by their users

The EU has several laws in place to combat hate speech and online harassment including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which regulates the collection and use of personal data and the Audiovisual Media Services Directive which regulates hate speech on online platforms Several counter-measures can be taken to combat digital hate including educating individuals about the harmful effects of digital hate and promoting tolerance and respect for diversity which can help reduce the prevalence of digital hate speech Encouraging individuals to report incidents of digital hate can help identify the perpetrators and hold them accountable for their actions Regulating so-

cial media platforms to prevent the spread of hate speech and online harassment can also help reduce the prevalence of digital hate

In recent years India has been accused of using digital hate against Pakistan, particularly in the wake of the 2019 Pulwama attack Social media platforms were flooded with hatefilled posts and tweets that blamed Pakistan for the attack and called for retaliation These posts often used derogatory language and stereotypes to demonize Pakistanis

In December 2020, the EU DisinfoLab, a UK-based organization that investigates online disinformation campaigns published a mindboggling report titled Indian Chronicles which exposed an extensive disinformation campaign against Pakistan that had been running since at least 2005 The report evidenced that the extensive worldwide disinformation campaign was orchestrated by an Indian company called Srivastava Group, which had created more than 750 fake media outlets and NGOs to spread disinformation against Pakistan to defame its international image

The report asserted that the disinformation campaign targeted multiple audiences including decision-makers, journalists, and the general public, in several countries around the world

C h i n a , Pa k i s t a n j o i n h a n d s to e s t a b l i s h j o i nt w h e at l a b

I I U I s e s s i o n s u g g e s t s A r a b i c

L a n g u a g e n ew s p l at fo r m i n Pa k i s t a n

‘InStead of checkIng corrUptIon’, fBr contInUeS ‘crackdown’ on whIStleBlowerS

ISLAMABAD s h a h z a d pa r ac h a

IT seems the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is stick to its ‘anti-public interest policy of a hot pursuit of whistle blowers to silence them and discourage them from pointing finger at big frauds and massive revenue hemorrhages, taking place in the customs field formations across the country Sources said although the FBR Chairman as head of the country s revenue administration, was legally bound to extend to any whistleblowers the statutory protections against FBR’s retaliatory actions provided in section 10 of the Public Interest Disclosures Act, 2017 Yet the chairman has so far made at least two whistle-blowing custom officers an example for the other potential whistle-

blowers through retaliatory actions contrary to his obligation under the Public Interest Disclosure Act Sources said that the Chairman FBR who should have legally restrained the M e m b e r C u s t o m O p e r a t i o n s f r o m launching retaliatory actions against the w h i s t l e - b l o w e r s w h o p i n p o i n t e d m a ss i v e c u s t o m f r a u d s c a u s i n g r e v e n u e los s es w orth billions of rupees s eems to have blindly followed the member s advice for using the strategy of retaliation to suppress and conceal from publ i c e y e t h e h u g e r e v e n u e l o s s e s w h i c h t h e s e n i o r c u s t o m o ff i c e r s t h e m s e l v e s are allegedly facilitating in the customs field formations for monetary gains at no cost to them

The whistle-blower whom the FBR has made “an example of” for others is the ex-additional collector of customs ad-

Mar yam castigates

ISLAMABAD

s ta F F r e p o r t

Senior Vice-President and Chief Organizer of Pakistan

Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Maryam Nawaz on

Sunday took a swipe at former prime minister Imran Khan for his cowardly behaviour

In a tweet on a microblogging site, Maryam Nawaz drew a comparison between a “leader” and a “jackal”, stating that those who hide from the police during protests were jackals while those who led from the front were true leaders She went on to praise her father, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as a “sherdil” (lion-hearted) leader who broke all obstacles to restore the judiciary

Maryam Nawaz also shared a video montage of her father s 2007 address and the latest press conference by the PTI leader Hammad Azhar in which she juxtaposed the two leaders to highlight their supposed differences

Earlier, PML-N Senior Vice President and Chief Organizer

Maryam Nawaz made a scathing attack on former prime minister and PTI chief Imran Khan saying that who waits for a dead body is called a vulture and not a politician

Reacting to Imran Khan s address, Maryam Nawaz in a Twitter message said that anyone who needs a dead body in his politics knows that all his strategies have failed and he knows that defeat has become his destiny Earlier, while addressing the organizational meeting in Faisalabad, the main organizer of Muslim League-N said that if the scales are not equal there is no election no choice and the Muslim League will only go to the election to win

no ban on political activities in lahore, claims naqvi

LAHOrE

s ta F F r e p o r t

Punjab Chief Minister Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi on Sunday declared there was no ban on political activities in the province particularly in Lahore

In a tweet on Sunday the Punjab caretaker chief minister maintained that all the political parties are allowed to run their election campaigns freely He, however, stated that the government had restricted rallies and political activities only for today (Sunday) due to PSL matches

The chief minister further said There are PSL cricket matches being played, there is movement of teams, and a marathon is also being taken place in Lahore which were all planned and announced much in advance ”

It may be mentioned there that the provincial government has imposed Section 144 in Lahore Punjab Caretaker Minister for Sports Amir Mir requested the PTI to forward its rally date lamenting that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has once again announced holding a rally on an important day when Lahore is hosting the Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches “Lahore is hosting the PSL matches There is also a 40-kilometre-long marathon and cycle race in the city today, the minister said Meanwhile, Naqvi took notice of the murder of five people in Sheikhupura and ordered the Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) to submit a report

The chief minister ordered strict action against the suspect

Such a beast does not deserve mercy, he said A security guard had killed a flour mill owner as well as four members of his own family in Farooaqabad area of Sheikhupura yesterday (Saturday, March 11, 2023) According to the report, the guard opened fire and killed a flourmill owner over a petty dispute The accused who was identified as Tanveer also killed his wife two young children and sisterin-law after killing the flourmill owner

Silicon Valley Bank failure rattles US star tup ecosystem

judication, Faisalabad

The officer had disclosed through his written communication to the member custom operations that a new custom fraud was taking roots in Multan custom collectorate where junior seizing officers were releasing without adjudication and fine the vehicles used for carriage of the smuggled goods

The whistle-blower pointed out that this plainly unlawful practice was gaining ground in Multan custom collectorate right under the nose of the collector and chief collector of the region Sources said that instead of seeking explanation from the collector and chief collector regarding their inaction to check the money-making trend thriving in Multan custom collectorate, FBR took a retaliatory action and transferred the whistle-blowing officer from his position

to the Directorate of transit trade, Lahore, a place to park the officers whom FBR intends to teach a lesson for one reason or the other

E a r l i e r, c o l l e c t o r o f c u s t o m s G i l g i t - B a l t i s t a n h a d b l o w n w h i s t l e o n a u s u a l a n d t r a d i t i o n a l h u g e f r a u d i n G B c u s t o m s

Instead of investigating the scam through a high-powered enquiry committee and uncovering all those involved in the scam, the member custom operation transferred the whistle-blowing collector from his position and sidelined him at a lower grade position in FBR Sources disclosed that later custom high-ups in FBR allegedly examined the dynamics, causing disclosure of a custom fraud in GB customs which in routine operates successfully and unhindered almost in every custom collectorate

PIA reduces routine flights to GB by half

ISLAMABAD g h u l a M a b b a s

With hundreds of locals and tourists planning to travel to Gilgit Baltistan in spring and summer holidays, Pakistan International Airline (PIA) has reduced almost half of regular flights to the area for unknown reasons

The airline, which normally flies each one flight to Gilgit and Skardu daily from Islamabad

The reduction in routine flights has been made at a time when thousands of locals who shift to lower parts of the country during harsh winter season are about to return to their native areas

Besides the tourists who had already booked flights during March and April are also being told to reschedule their visits to the mountainous region following the cut in flights Zulfiqar Shigri a travel agent in Skardu informed this scribe

Instead of increasing the number of flights keeping in view the rush in Islamabad, PIA has surpassingly decreased the number of flights to Skardu by over 50 percent There are hardly 12 to 15 daily flights scheduled between Islamabad to Skardu in March and April 2023 ” he said adding that following the limited flights available on this route PIA has also raised the fare to over Rs 25,000

An official however claimed that the ATR service to Gilgit has not been affected by the shortage of pilots However the services of larger flights (Boeing) to Skardu are affected by the fresh developments

“In the absence of air travel, buses and car

service providers have also started charging inflated fares Buses are charging around Rs 5,000 while cars charge Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000 per passenger for traveling between Rawalpindi and Skardu said Z A Agha owner of a travel service at Pirwadhai Bus Stand, in Rawalpindi

According to sources, the reduction in flights has been made following the resignation of dozens of pilots of PIA The resignations had come after PIA announced a 35% cut in salaries, prompting outrage among the pilots and their representative organization the Pakistan Airline Pilots Association (PALPA) As per reports private airlines are paying Rs 9 lacs to the first officers and Rs 16 to 18 lacs to the captain which the organization argues is not enough to sustain a decent living According to PALPA the salaries of PIA s most senior captains are close to Rs 7 lacs As a result, more pilots are ready to quit putting further pressure on the already beleaguered airline Interestingly, as per PALPA officials, these are the same pilots whose names were on the list of 262 fake licenses

When contacted Abdullah Hafeez Spokesman of PIA claimed that the number of flights would start increasing soon He claimed that the number of passengers increases one side in different seasons which ultimately affect the flights

As per the spokesman, the flight operation to GB may also be started from other destinations like Lahore and Karachi in case the demands go up in summer season He claims the tourist flow would increase after the holy month of Ramazan

saudi Aramco earns $161b profit for 2022

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Saudi Aramco said on Sunday it achieved record profits totalling $161 1 billion last year, drawing an outraged response from activists warning about the ravages of climate change

The mostly state-owned energy giant, the world’s second most valuable company behind Apple, said in a filing with the Saudi stock market that net income for 2022 was up 46% from $110 billion in 2021 The results the strongest since Aramco became a listed company in 2019 were “predominantly due to the impact of higher crude oil prices and volumes sold, and stronger refining margins,” it said Global energy prices surged after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 It is shocking for a company to make a profit of more than $161 billion in a single year through the sale of fossil fuel the single largest driver of the climate crisis ” Agnes Callamard secretary-general of Amnesty International, said in a statement

“It is all the more shocking because this surplus was amassed during a global cost-ofliving crisis and aided by the increase in energy prices resulting from Russia s war of aggression against Ukraine Amnesty described Aramco’s profits as “the most ever disclosed by a company in a single year and said they should be used to fund a human rights-based transition to renewable energy”

Risks of underinvestment

Aramco s gains are consistent with record profits for 2022 reported by the five oil majors Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP and TotalEnergies, which in total surpassed $150 billion and would have been closer to $200 billion without costly withdrawals from Russia

“Aramco rode the wave of high energy prices in 2022 It s what the company is geared to do ” said Robert Mogielnicki of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington It would have been difficult for Aramco not to perform strongly in 2022 ”

Saudi Arabia has pledged to

ISLAMABAD s ta F F r e p o r t

The federal government on Sunday made public the much-awaited records of Toshakhana gifts received by public officeholders from foreign governments and dignitaries since 2002, on government’s website

The record comprising 446 pages included gifts received in Toshakhana from the year 2002 to 2023 Names of former presidents prime ministers federal ministers and government officers were mentioned in the list along with details of the gifts retained by them

The department has been in the news in recent months in light of proceedings against former prime minister Imran Khan for not sharing details of Toshakhana gifts

Last month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had announced the government’s plans to make the entire record public He had also barred the officials from retaining gifts worth more than $300

Established in 1974, the Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries

According to Toshakhana rules gifts/presents and other such materials received by persons to whom these rules apply shall be reported to the Cabinet Division

The government put the document on the website containing record of former president Pervez Musharraf and former prime ministers Shaukat Aziz Yousaf Raza Gilani Nawaz Sharif, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Imran Khan Names of present prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Dr Arif Alvi were also included in the list

The following are some of the more salient findings regarding the gifts retained from the Toshakhana by political leaders over the years:

: Three-time former

prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif retained a Mercedes Benz (Rs4 2m) in April 2008 after paying Rs636 888 for it

In November 2913, he retained a Rolex wristwatch (Rs1 18m) after paying a total of Rs243 000 for it and some other items He also kept a Piaget wristwatch (Rs1m) in January 2015 after paying Rs240,000 for it and a box of perfumes

In January 2016 he retained a Christopher Claret watch (Rs2m) a ring (Rs19 5m) and a pair of cufflinks (Rs16m) after paying a total of Rs7 6m for them and some other items Meanwhile his wife Kulsoom Nawaz retained a bracelet (Rs12 7m) and a necklace and earring (Rs41 6m) after paying Rs10 8m for them

In February 2016 Nawaz retained a Dela Cour watch (Rs3 2m) a ring (Rs8m) and a pair of cufflinks (Rs5m) after paying Rs3 2m for them In October 2016, he retained a Rolex watch (Rs1 2m) and another Rolex watch (Rs850 000) after paying Rs469,000 for them and some other items

achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2060 drawing scepticism from environmental campaigners Officials are simultaneously championing further investments in fossil fuels to ensure energy security and stave off inflation and other economic woes

“Given that we anticipate oil and gas will remain essential for the foreseeable future, the risks of underinvestment in our industry are real including contributing to higher energy prices, Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said on Sunday Aramco has pledged to achieve operational net-zero carbon emissions by 2050

That applies to emissions that are produced directly by Aramco s industrial sites, but not the CO2 produced when clients burn Saudi oil in their cars power plants and furnaces

Growth driver

The company’s yearly net income figure is nearly double the $88 2 billion the firm pulled in in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic

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Silicon Valley Bank’s stunning collapse has led to the freezing of tens of billions of dollars stored there by startups and their private equity backers, raising fears of a wider tech sector fallout

The company whose website says it is “the financial partner of the innovation economy, was taken over Friday by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to prevent further damage

SVB knew the entrepreneurial community Joseph DeSimone, a professor at Stanford University and founder of several startups, told AFP

“They helped us recruit people helped with securing mortgages for transplants gave financial advice to new executives So their disappearance is a real loss,” he said The company previously boasted that “nearly half” of technology and life science companies that had US funding banked with them, leading many to worry about the possible ripple effects of its collapse

For banks that are FDIC-insured only $250 000 per account is guaranteed But according to SVB s latest annual report, 96 percent of its total $173 billion in deposits was uninsured

The FDIC said Friday that all accounts would quickly get access to the insured portions of their deposits, but that the rest would depend on how much is recovered from sales of the bank’s assets an often lengthy process

The real victims of the SVB fallout are the depositors: startups with 10 to 100 employees who cannot make payroll and will have to furlough or shutdown workers as soon as Monday, tweeted Garry Tan, head of the well-known incubator Y Combinator

He warned that “years of US innovation” are on the line as an entire generation of American startups could be destroyed in a month or two

‘Doesn’t look good’

Activist investor Bill Ackman raised a similar alarm on Twitter, saying that SVB s collapse could destroy an important long-term driver of the economy ” “If private capital can’t provide a solution a highly dilutive gov t (government) preferred bailout should be considered

According to several US media reports, SVB had discussed on Thursday and Friday a possible buyout with several banks but could not find a solution quickly enough Champ Bennett, cofounder of the video platform Capsule, revealed on Friday that the $5 million raised in mid-February during the company s first seed funding round was housed at SVB and now inaccessible “What happens next is anyone’s guess but it doesn’t look good he tweeted

US congressman expresses concern over rights violations under Sharif

WASHINGTON

M o n i to r i n g r e p o r t

US Congressman Brad Sherman a Democrat representing California s 32nd congressional district has expressed his concerns over the violation of human rights and democracy in Pakistan, urging the government of Shehbaz Sharif to ensure freedom of speech and the application of rule of law in the country Sherman s comments come after he spoke to former prime minister Imran Khan and Dr Asif Mehmood a Pakistan-origin philanthropist and Democratic candidate running for Congress In a video message shared on Twitter by the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party Sherman recalled the US and Pakistan have a long history of working together on various global and regional issues since the 1940s America must support democracy and human rights around the world and particularly in Pakistan ” he pointed out

It is not the role of the United States to involve itself in Pakistan s internal governmental matters with respect to Pakistan’s constitutional and democratic process But we must not shy away from raising our voices for human rights and democracy in Pakistan or anywhere else

The government of Pakistan and every government should respect the right of people to speak the right to organise the right to demonstrate he said He noted that Pakistan was facing several internal and external challenges, such as growing extremism, intolerance and dissent that threatened the country’s social cohesion Sherman also emphasized the need for a calm, orderly, democratic, and prosperous Pakistan where citizens could freely engage in political dialogue He also expressed concern over the alleged incidents of custodial torture and sexual abuse of PTI leaders Shahbaz Gill and Azam Swati, as well as the deaths of journalist Arshad Sharif and party worker Ali Bilal

In March 2017, his son, Hussain Nawaz, retained a Rolex watch (Rs940,000) after paying Rs186 000 for it Meanwhile the PML-N supremo himself retained a diamond necklace (Rs1m) after paying Rs207,560 for it and a table watch In May 2017 Nawaz retained a Rolex wristwatch (Rs4m) after paying Rs808,000 for it

imRaN KhaN: Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan in September 2018 retained a Graff wristwatch (Rs85m) a pair of cufflinks (Rs5 6m), a pen (Rs1 5m) and a ring (Rs8 75m) after paying Rs20m for them

In October 2018 he retained a Rolex watch, assessed at Rs3 8 million, after paying Rs754,000 for it Another Rolex watch (Rs1 5m) followed in the month after paying Rs294 000 for it In October 2019 he retained a boxed watch, assessed at Rs1 9m, after paying Rs935,000 for it

In September 2020 Imran retained yet another Rolex watch assessed at Rs4 4m after paying Rs2 4m for it and a number of other

gifts In the same month, his wife Bushra Bibi also kept a necklace (Rs10m), bracelet (Rs2 4m) ring (Rs2 8m) and a pair of earrings (Rs1 85m) after paying Rs9m for them

It must be mentioned that former prime minister and National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf also retained a Graff wristwatch assessed at Rs890,000 in November 2012 after paying a total of Rs218 000 for it and other items a S i f a l i

other items Another Cartier wristwatch (Rs1m) followed in October 2011 with a payment of Rs321,000 for it and a gun

Imran for displaying ‘cowardly behaviour’